Partners in Crime
by ThisRiceEater
Summary: An 11 year old Jinora, in secret, embraces a new rebellious life style, sneaking off of Air Temple Island on a regular basis to roam the near endless streets of Republic City. It is there she meets and befriends a young street urchin boy known as Skoochy.
1. Meeting

**First time writing a fanfic ever, so bear with me. D:**

**So one day I came across an unfamiliar word in the Avatar fandom. This word was 'Jinoochy'. Curious as to what it was, I punched that word into Google and was immediately greeted with a few fan arts. I'm pleased to say that I liked the idea very much and I approve of this ship. To the extent that I could label them as my Legend of Korra OTP, because I don't really feel it with all the other LoK ships.**

**The idea of this story comes from episode 2 of The Legend of Korra when Tenzin tells his children "You must promise me that your teenage years won't be like this", in reference to being unable to control Korra, to which Jinora openly responds "I will make no such promises". This gave me the idea that perhaps Jinora potentially has a rebellious side to her hidden behind the books and her quiet personality.**

**So the idea of the story is, what if Jinora secretly left Air Temple Island to explore Republic City on her own where, somewhere along the line, she meets Skoochy and they befriend each other?**

**Well, here goes. Hope you enjoy!**

**2/04/2013: Had to edit one bit. Doesn't the affect the storyline at all, thankfully.**

* * *

Jinora sat at the edge of her bed, book in hand, she read quietly as the sun began to set over the horizon. Closing the book having reached the end of the chapter, she clutched the book to her chest as she fell back onto her bed, letting out a bored sigh.

Boredom was a constant enemy of hers. Aside from her siblings, there were no other children on Air Temple Island. She let out another sigh when she realised she didn't have many friends. Sure, there was Korra, but she was of a different age group and she was always training with Tenzin or was out with Asami, Bolin and Mako.

Especially Mako.

Yet another sigh escaped her lips. She didn't know any boys her own age. Having read countless books about romance, she was curious to know what being in love really felt like.

Sitting up, she shook that thought from her head. She was too young, and her father would be most displeased if she had an interest in a boy at this age. Well, at any age really.

Placing the book aside, she stood up from her bed and gazed out her room window. She looked in awe at the sight before her. The skyline of Republic City began to light up with artificial light as the orange sky grew darker while the sun shone the last of its rays as it sank below the horizon.

Leaning onto the window sill, burying her cheek in her palm, she sighed again. She had rarely left Air Temple Island. She wanted to explore the world. Heck, she wanted to be able to explore Republic City itself.

She glanced to her right, at her glider which was standing against the wall next to her window. Maybe she could go in secret. Toph Beifong ran away from home when she was 12 to contribute to the war effort. What was stopping her from merely exploring the city on her own? It's not like she would be in much danger or anything. She was able to fight off the Equalists when they attacked Air Temple Island. And she would stay away from shady areas anyway.

Jinora shook her head and discouraged herself. What if her father found out? She'd receive the punishment of a lifetime. He'd probably allocate some of the Order of the White Lotus members to watch over her around the clock.

She brought up her other hand to bury her other cheek in its palm as she continued to gaze at the city before her. She remained like that for a several minutes, occasionally glancing at the glider beside her.

It was tempting. Tenzin has a long day at the council and retired early, Pema was preoccupied with Rohan while Ikki and Meelo somehow wore themselves out and went to bed early. There was no one who would be looking for her under normal circumstances.

_It's not like anyone would need to know_, she thought to herself.

She walked to her room door. Sliding it open a bit to poke her head out, she checked to see if anyone was coming. Satisfied by the emptiness of the hallway, she closed the door behind her as she walked back over to the window.

Gazing upon the city she thought about it one last time. No one would suspect a thing. She was always sensible and responsible. No one would think she would do such a thing.

Smirking to herself, she came to a decision. She would sneak out to explore Republic City. She grabbed a small, brown satchel bag and placed her book in it in case she found a nice spot to continue where she left off. Grabbing her glider, she climbed onto her window sill before looking back into her room one last time.

_This is the craziest thing I've ever done, _she thought to herself, but smiling nonetheless.

And with that, hoping that nobody would see her, she leapt from her room window, extended the wings of her glider and flew off across the large body of water beneath her.

* * *

An hour of journeying through Republic City found Jinora at Central City Station. She looked up in amazement at Zuko's statue. The orange glow of the flame producing from the statue's right hand was almost hypnotic.

Resting her feet after an hour of walking around the city, she unshouldered her bag as she took a seat on the ground by the statue. She gazed at her orange tinted surroundings, fidgeting with the glider which she still held in her hands.

She let out a sigh as she buried her cheek in her hand. She was having a lot of fun, but it would have been more fun if there was someone to explore the city with her. She shook the thought from her head.

_This is a lot better than being stuck on that island, _she told herself.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw someone rush past. Turning her head to follow the motion, she saw a young boy, no older than her, running with a bag. She looked to her side where she placed her bag. Her eyes widened when she realised her bag no longer there. Her eyes shot back to the boy with the bag, _her _bag.

"Hey!" she shouted as she sprung to her feet, "That's my bag!"

The boy turned around briefly to find an angry Jinora giving chase. Jinora swung her glider, sending a strong gust of wind his way in an attempt to trip him up. The boy was hit by the gust, but only lost his balance before quickly recovering. Without hesitating, he turned and darted across the busy road. Jinora went to cross the road too in her pursuit.

She suddenly stopped when her ears were blasted by a loud horn. She turned and was blinded by a pair of lights. She let out a scream when she realised the lights were those of a Satomobile. Her first instinct was to leap back onto the safety of the walkway, but her usually featherweight feet felt like heavy stone weights as she was frozen in fear. She shut her eyes as she screamed louder.

The air was knocked out of her lungs as she was knocked to the side, but not by the Satomobile. She felt herself twist through the air before landing on something soft, but rigid. She heard her glider clattering on the ground somewhere ahead of her.

Checking to see what she had landed on, she opened her eyes. She found herself staring into a pair of brown eyes. She felt her cheeks heat up when she found she was staring at the face of a boy, not much older than she. She then let out an embarrassed yelp as she rose to her feet with a small gust of wind when she realised she was practically lying on top of him.

The boy rose to his feet, snickering at her obvious embarrassment. Straightening his green vest over his tattered brown shirt, he placed his hands on his hips and leaned toward Jinora's direction, a mocking expression on his face.

"Don't you know you're supposed to look before you cross roads?" he teased.

Jinora snapped a pointing finger toward where she last saw the other boy, "But that boy took my—"

"—Bag, yeah, yeah," he interrupted, raising a silencing finger, "but I still would have thought that the smart Jinora would've had the common sense to look before crossing."

"What?" she gasped in surprise, "How do you know who I am?"

The boy stood up straight, shifting the hat on his head as he took a step forward, "Please, with that Air Nomad get up and your airbending, you stick out like a sore thumb."

Jinora widened her eyes as she comprehended what he said.

"And besides," he continued, "you don't look eight years old. You're obviously Councilman Tenzin's eldest daughter, Jinora."

The boy put on a smug expression as he grabbed the front of his vest. Jinora felt her heartbeat quicken. How could she not realise it was obvious who she was? Had anyone who knew her father seen her? What if someone tells him she's been wondering around Republic City?

The boy snickered at the worried look on her face, "I'm guessing by the look on your face, you're here without daddy's permission."

"Be quiet!" she snapped at him as she crossed her arms, giving him a stern look.

He chuckled as he walked around her, bending over to pick her glider off the ground.

"Hey, give that back!" she shouted as she rushed over to him and snatched it out of his hands.

He raised his hands, "Hey, it's useless to me anyway."

She gave him a stern glare, but he simply smiled back at her. Jinora's facial expression changed as she felt the heat rise in her cheeks. The boy gave a small 'heh' at her sudden change of expression.

"So," the boy said, breaking the silence between them, "what's the councilman's daughter doing all alone in Republic City?"

"I-I was… exploring the city," she replied hesitantly.

The boy chuckled, "I always heard of you as nothing but a quiet bookworm."

Jinora opened her mouth to retort his bookworm comment, but closed her mouth again, unable to deny it.

"I must say," he mused, stroking his chin, "this is quite unexpected. Maybe you should go home before you get in trouble."

Jinora clutched her glider behind her back, eyeing the ground guiltily as though she had been caught red handed at the scene of a crime.

"I…" she spoke almost inaudibly, "I don't want to go home."

He gave Jinora a confused look, "What?"

"I don't want to go home," she raised her voice, bring her hands in front of her, still looking down at her feet.

The boy stared blankly at her for a moment, before he started to laugh. Jinora looked up and scowled at his reaction.

Jinora's eyes flashed wide open and her cheeks burned up when suddenly the boy's laughter died down as he grabbed her hand.

"Well then," he said to her as he started running, pulling her along with him, "everybody knows you need a guide the first time you explore Republic City. I'll be your guide for tonight. Oh, and that kid who stole your bag, he's Xing. We'll find him and get your stuff back later.

"Wait!" Jinora cried, "Who are you?"

The boy stopped running suddenly. Jinora bumped into him and they almost fell to the ground. She looked up to his face and was welcomed with a warm smile.

"Call me Skoochy."

* * *

**That's all I wrote so far. I was aiming for a longer first chapter, but it seemed fitting to conclude the chapter there. A bit short, I know, but I'll aim for more lengthy chapters in future.**

**Hope you liked it! Reviews are most welcome.**


	2. A night out in Republic City

**Hello readers.**

**In terms of how long this chapter is in comparison to how long it took to complete this chapter in relation to just how much free time I've had to do it and taking into consideration how long it usually takes me to write something of similar length... I'd say this was disgracefully slow. And for that, I apologise.**

**I probably would've finished this a few days ago but I'm easily distracted (The main culprits of my distraction being video games and YouTube.)... My school work load has been unusually light lately so I would've thought I'd have finished this chapter a lot faster...**

**Anyhow, it is at last complete and now it is available for your reading pleasure! It takes off pretty much right after the first one. Not much in the way of crime happening in this chapter as the title of the story suggests. But fear not, it will happen eventually.**

**I feel I rambled a bit here and there in this chapter. But nonetheless, enjoy!**

* * *

After running the length of a few blocks, Skoochy led Jinora around a corner into an alley between two apartment buildings. Skoochy let go of Jinora's hand as he stopped running, Jinora bent forward catching her breath after being dragged into a run. Skoochy laughed at her lack of energy.

"First order of business," Skoochy said, placing his hands on his hips while he gazed upwards, "you'll need a new outfit if you don't want to be found out."

Jinora's eyes followed the upward direction his eyes were looking. She saw clotheslines filled with drying clothes spanning across the gap between the two buildings. Realising Skoochy's intent, she was about to speak out in protest but Skoochy was already getting started.

Skoochy grabbed onto a pipe which spanned the entire height of one of the buildings. He climbed up the pipe until he was level with one of the lower lines. Reaching out, he unclipped a long coat from the line.

"Here," he called down to Jinora, dropping the coat, "catch."

"Wait!" she called up to him as she caught the coat, "Isn't this wrong?"

Skoochy snickered as he unclipped a few more articles of clothing, "If they can afford to get a roof over their heads, they can afford to replace these."

Jinora quickly placed her glider against the wall before catching the falling bits of clothing. She looked down and inspected what Skoochy had pinched for her. There was the long brown coat which Skoochy first grabbed, as well as that, there was a small pair of olive green fingerless gloves, a red scarf which reminded her of Mako and a plain black beret.

Skoochy called back down to her, "You should quickly put those—"

"Hey!"

His eyes shot up to find an angry lady shaking a fist at him.

"What do you think you're doing!?"

Skoochy stared blankly for a moment before he began to laugh. Giving the angry lady a spiteful wink, he slid back down the pipe, jumping off at the final moment before landing on his feet. He ran over to Jinora, grabbing her hand and grabbing her glider which stood against the wall. Jinora clutched onto the clothing she held as Skoochy pulled her along out of the alley.

They ran for a couple blocks before Skoochy led them into a different alley way where he told Jinora to put on the clothes he got for her.

Hesitant at first, she conceded when she reasoned to herself that they would still get in trouble if they tried to return the clothes nicely. The long coat fitted her loosely, but it was warm. The scarf and seemingly perfect fitting gloves accompanied that warmth. She placed the loose fitting beret over her trademark bun while Skoochy pulled the front lower to hide her features a little better.

"There," Skoochy said, looking proud, "you look like a true street kid."

"Thanks," Jinora responded, unsurely, "I guess."

Skoochy chuckled, "C'mon, you want to see the city, don't you?"

"I want to get my bag back first from that Xing boy first," Jinora answered.

"We'll find him along the way," Skoochy said as he placed Jinora's glider back in her hands.

"Wait, wha—"

She was immediately cut off when she felt her cheeks redden as Skoochy grabbed her hand. And no sooner did her take hold of her hand did he pull her along to explore the city.

* * *

The sights she saw as Skoochy hastily guided her through the city amazed Jinora. All the land marks she was able to see from her room window appeared far larger than she had first anticipated. All the other land marks which she had read about simply dwarfed her expectations. It felt intimidating, but the feeling would disappear as she'd quietly laugh behind her hand at Skoochy's commentary on his take of the history of said land marks.

When they passed through the city park, Jinora's breath got caught in her throat when she saw the dim lamps illuminate the paths and the edges of the water. She also saw couples taking a stroll together, some even riding taxi cabs through the part. Jinora suddenly had an urge to cling onto Skoochy's arm after seeing those couples, but she shook the thought from her head.

_That's silly_, she thought to herself, _we're already holding hands anyway._

Wait, they were holding hands? Jinora's eyes darted to her left hand which was indeed being held in Skoochy's. She quickly pulled her hand away, which seemed to startle Skoochy. He turned his head and saw the embarrassment in her features before chuckling.

"Took you long enough," he said with a snicker, sticking his hands in his pockets, "I mean we've only been holding hands this whole time."

"I want to get my bag back now," Jinora said, changing the subject entirely.

"Alright then," he conceded, "follow me."

* * *

Skoochy led Jinora to the Dragon Flats borough. The atmosphere felt gloomy. The area wasn't loud and bustling with life like the rest of the city. Rather, the population here stayed in the confines of their homes, while a few homeless people curled up with what warmth they could find and everything was quiet.

They trekked deeper into the area. Skoochy rounded a corner and found a group of children huddled together.

"Xing?" Skoochy called out, "You there?"

One of the children raised their head groggily, "Who's asking?"

"It's Skoochy," he answer as he leaned against a wall, crossing his arms.

"Oh," Xing lowered his head, "hey Skooch', what do you want?"

"I believe you have something that belongs to her," Skoochy indicated Jinora who was standing next to him, "and she'd very much like it back."

"Fine, but you owe me." Xing reached behind him as he shrugged, "Here's your girlfriend's bag. There was nothing but a stupid book in there anyway."

"He's not my—," Jinora almost yelled.

But Skoochy cut in quickly, "Thank you, Xing."

He took the bag from Xing and placed it in Jinora's free hand.

"And it's not a stupid book!" Jinora continued, "It's a beautiful story of—"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Skoochy cut her off again as he led her away from the huddled children, "let's go. Some people are trying to get to sleep."

The thought of sleep made Jinora yawn. She looked up at the sky to find a pitch black sky. They'd been wondering for a few hours and it was beginning to get late for her standards. Suddenly she started to feel a bit drowsy.

Skoochy noticed this sudden change in energy, "Follow me. I'll take you to a place to lie down."

Jinora, who was in the middle of another yawn, didn't wasn't sure what he had said but nodded anyway. She shouldered her bag and continued to follow Skoochy like she had all night.

* * *

A few minutes of walking through the quiet borough, Skoochy turned into an alley between two buildings. Skoochy jumped ahead a few steps ahead of Jinora and stretched.

"Well, here we are," he said, letting out a low yawn, "home sweet home."

"You live here?" Jinora asked in surprise, "In this alley?"

"Well this alley is what I do call home," Skoochy answered smugly.

Jinora gave him an unsure, sympathetic look. Skoochy gave her a reassuring smile.

"It's not so bad here," he continued, "Let me show you why."

Skoochy took hold of her hand and placed her palm against the brick wall.

"What do you feel?" Skoochy asked, knowing the answer.

"It's cold," Jinora winced.

Skoochy nodded. He then slowly slid her hand across. Jinora felt a sudden change in temperature that made her reflexes pull her hand back. Skoochy pointed a raised eyebrow at her surprised expression. Jinora placed her hand again, unsure as to what happened.

Maybe her senses were fooling her. She placed her palm against the wall again. Her eyes widened in surprise.

"It's warm." Jinora exclaimed.

"Sure is," Skoochy gave a smug smile, "On the other side of this wall is a fire place. The owner of this house makes sure it is always burning. It keeps the bricks warm."

Skoochy took a seat on the ground with his back resting against the warm wall. He let out a relaxed sigh as he embraced the warmth against his back.

"Here," Skoochy said, patting the ground next to him, "take a seat."

Jinora let out another yawn before she took a seat to his left. She let out a relaxed sigh as she pressed her back against the warm bricks. Her eyelids began to feel heavy. She fixed her coat to be a little tighter and let out a tired yawn.

She should really make her way back to Air Temple Island. She knew, but the warm wall made her mind seemingly melt. She looked up at Skoochy, his eyes were closed as though sleep had already consumed him. For all she knew it probably had. Her eyelids felt heavier.

_Maybe I could just close my eyes for a little while, _she thought to herself.

She sat there, curled up in her large coat, back against the warm brick wall and clutching her glider to her chest, she let sleep consume her.

* * *

She opened her eyes to the sound of a bird chirping somewhere in a place she couldn't conceive. She inhaled deeply before letting out a loud comfortable sigh.

She rubbed her eyes to wake herself up a little more. She then became aware that she was leaning against something. She tried to pull away but felt something pressing down on her head. Her eyes shot open when she realised that she had fallen asleep on Skoochy's shoulder.

Jinora felt heat rise in her cheeks as she quickly snapped away from him. This brought Skoochy right out of his slumber when he fell to the ground. Apparently he had done a lot of leaning in his sleep.

"What just happened?" Skoochy asked groggily as he picked himself off the ground.

"Um… Nothing," Jinora lied, turning to hide her reddening face.

She sighed inwardly when Skoochy merely rubbed his eyes, not pressing the issue any further.

"Why are you awake so early anyway?" Skoochy asked as he yawned.

Jinora looked at the sky. There was the slightest tint of blue in the once black sky which was ever so slowly growing brighter. Her eyes snapped wide open in realisation.

"Skoochy, help me get to Yue Bay!" Jinora cried out as she tugged at his arm, "I need to get back to Air Temple Island before everyone starts waking up!"

Skoochy yawned before giving Jinora a nod in response. Jinora picked herself off the ground with a puff of air while Skoochy slowly dragged himself off the ground using the wall as support, letting out a loud yawn as he did.

"Come on," Skoochy moaned, "follow me."

* * *

By the time they reached Yue Bay, the sky was a much brighter shade of blue, the sun barely over the horizon.

"Well," Skoochy said wearily as he propped himself down on a bench, "here we are."

"Thank you," Jinora said as her glider's wings extended with a loud click.

Jinora looked at the island that stood far away in the large body of water. She took in a deep breath of the ocean air before she turned back to Skoochy.

"Thanks for showing me around the city, Skoochy," Jinora said gratefully, "I had fun."

"Yeah, yeah," Skoochy said with a yawn, "don't you have an island to get back to?"

Jinora smiled at his tired face before turning around to look upon Air Temple Island again. She took a deep breath before she leapt into the air and took flight for home.

Skoochy stayed seated on the bench as he watched Jinora's figure turn into a tiny dot in the distance. She hadn't even reached the island before he spread himself across the bench and began snoozing.

* * *

Jinora landed herself on her window sill before quietly climbing into the confines of her room. She set her glider against the wall next to the open window before unshouldering her bag and ridding herself of her stolen clothes. She then proceeded to hiding said clothes under her bed. She quickly changed into her sleeping attire before crawling into her bed. Wearily soaking up the warmth of her blanket, she could not help the giddy smile that split her face.

* * *

**Well, there's the chapter. Hope you enjoyed it despite the occasional ramble I feel I might have put in there. And I hope the wait was worth it. Again, reviews are most welcome.**

**After reading the reviews that popped up within 24 hours of publishing this story, I was over the moon with joy with the positive response.**

**My response to the notable reviews:**

**LucyHx: Thank you! It's nice to know you're hooked. That means I know I will have at least one faithful reader. (Mwahaha, and I am one step closer in my plight for ****_WORLD _****_DOMINATION! _****Just kidding. But seriously, thank you.)**

**LokFan (Guest): Thank you for the kind words. I was having thoughts that maybe the way I had Jinora and Skoochy meet seemed a little cheesy, but I'm jumping with joy to know you, and potentially other people, think otherwise.**

**Well, time to get started on the next chapter. I hope I can stay concentrated on it when I'm able to write, but knowing me, I'll probably end up getting distracted. Again. **


	3. Going there again

**Hello again!**

**Sorry for the extremely long wait. I kind of have an excuse... The journey I took to write this particular chapter was a strange one. I wrote half of it, then school work mounted up and I had to do that. Then I lost inspiration to write this chapter. Then ideas for two other fanfics (Both for Avatar: The Last Airbender.) popped up in my mind, then I got very bugged by the ideas and ended up writing first chapters for both of them. Then I nearly finished this chapter when I found I wasn't happy with where it was going and ended up deleting about two thirds of the chapter and re-writing it to play out differently in a way that seemed more fitting. But not before I wrote a later chapter for this story... Yes, I'm very strange and I can't stay concentrated on what I'm meant to be doing very well... Well, nevertheless, here it is.**

**Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

It had been about a week since she had snuck out to the city. Ever since that night, life on the island seemed a lot slower, more boring than it used to. Jinora was always restless these days. Tossing and turning in bed, unable to concentrate on her books, unable to keep still during meditation. This was a cause of worry among the population of Air Temple Island for she was always calm and collected. After a few days of this, a concerned Tenzin had a doctor come to the island to check up on Jinora, much to her displeasure, fearing that perhaps she was sick. But the doctor found nothing wrong with her.

Jinora sat her small frame in the window sill of her bedroom. The book in her hand hung uselessly as it dangled by her side. She had long since lost interest in the story as her mind kept drifting elsewhere. She stared out at the sun which was slowly hiding behind the mountain range. Her eyes dropped where she could see the reflection of the freshly lit skyline of Republic City shine and distort off the waters of Yue Bay.

_Yue,_ Jinora thought to herself, _the princess who turned into the moon. And same the princess who fell in love with great-uncle Sokka, a Southern Water Tribe peasant at the time._

She brought her knees under her chin with her arms wrapped around her legs as she thought on further.

_What if me, the councilman's daughter, fell in love with a street urchin boy, like Skoochy?_

She frowned to herself as she lifted her head from her knees. That was a ridiculous thought. And why Skoochy? Her face moulded itself into a confused expression.

Nearly jumping out of her skin in the process, she snapped back to reality when she heard her bedroom door slide open. She turned her head to find Pema at the door holding a drowsy Rohan in her arm.

"Jinora," Pema called, "I'm going to retire early toni—"

Pema cut herself off and her eyes widened when she saw Jinora sitting on her window sill.

"Jinora, get down from there!" Pema instructed, "You could fall out of the window and hurt yourself!"

"Mum," Jinora replied as she brought her book to her face, pretending to read, "I'm fine. I've been here for a while now. I'm sure I'm not going to fall any time soon."

Pema was taken aback at Jinora's response. Was this really her eldest daughter she was talking to?

"Jinora," Pema said as she entered the room, taking a seat on Jinora's bed, "this isn't like you. You haven't been yourself lately. Has something happened recently?"

Jinora looked blankly from her book, "Nothing that I know of."

Pema frowned. She was about to question her daughter further before she her attention turned to the yawning child she was carrying. Pema decided to drop it so she could put Rohan to bed.

"Okay," Pema said as she slowly closed Jinora's door, "I'm sure there's something. If you want to talk about it, I'll listen with an open mind. I'm going to retire early tonight. Have a good night."

The door shut and Jinora listened to her mother's quickly fade away. She turned her gaze toward the city as she let her book fall down to her side with a sigh. She was well aware she was acting a little off lately. She couldn't help it so she had hoped no one would notice. However, it seemed she was doing a terrible job of hiding it.

_Maybe it's because I went to Republic City_, she reasoned to herself.

Perhaps it would help if she went back there. She eyed the glider which stood against the wall by her feet. She felt a familiar sense of excitement and nerves. She really wanted to go there again. She wanted to feel the sense of freedom she felt when she was able to roam around at her own will. She wanted to see Skoochy.

_Wait,_ her thought process backed off a bit, _Skoochy? Why Skoochy, again?_

She puffed her cheeks at the thought before she frowned. She thought it over again and came to a conclusion that it was because she seemed to have made a friend out of him. Her first friend that was of her age group. She relaxed her expression into a smile. That was better.

Eyeing her glider again, she felt the temptation. She tried to distract herself from it by reading her book. By the time the sun had set completely, she could no longer resist the thought of going to Republic City once again. She jumped down from her window sill and walked toward her door. She slid it open to check if anyone was coming to check on her. Satisfied, she closed the door behind her and hit the deck, reaching under her bed. Standing up, she produced a bundle of the stolen clothing Skoochy had acquired for her during her first visit to Republic City.

Jinora donned the jacket, the scarf, the gloves and the beret. She looked into her mirror. She thought it looked good on her.

_Very nice, _she mused.

Slipping a book into her satchel bag, she took one last peek out of her bedroom door. Finding no one, she closed her door once again and turned off all the lights in her room to give the impression she had gone to sleep. She grabbed her glider and climbed onto her window sill. With a giddy smile on her face, she leapt from the window, extended the wings of her glider and took flight toward the city.

* * *

Upon reaching dry land, she ventured on foot into the city. Her journey found her once again at Central City Station. She was hoping Skoochy would be there like he was last time she made her way there. Only this time without her standing in the way of a speeding Satomobile.

Looking around from her spot by the statue of Zuko, she couldn't see the boy anywhere. She sighed and sat herself down by the statue. She extracted her book from her bag, which she made sure to keep shouldered at all times, and began to read under the orange glow which illuminated from the statue. She was simply soaking up the lively atmosphere around her, but before long she was engrossed in her book. The first time she had done so in over a week.

Oblivious to the world around her, it was no surprise she let out a yelp and her book almost went flying through the air when she felt a tap on her shoulder. Turning to see who it was, she was greeted by a chuckling boy. She allowed herself to calm down when she realised it was just Skoochy.

She relaxed and let her heart beat settle as Skoochy propped himself down next to her. He looked down at the book in Jinora's hands with a curious look. The text looked foreign to him, unable to comprehend the meaning of the characters written on the page.

"What book is that?" Skoochy asked.

"It's a novelisation of an old Fire Nation play called Love Amongst the Dragons," Jinora answered a little excitedly before adding with a sigh, "It's so romantic."

Skoochy snickered at her expression as she said that last part. Jinora decided to ignore his teasing and turned back to her book. But when she tried, she couldn't concentrate with Skoochy's presence being so close. Giving up, she placed her book back in her bag and brought her knees to her chin and puffed her chooks in annoyance.

"So what brings you out here to these parts again?" Skoochy questioned.

Jinora took a moment before answering, "It's really boring being stuck on Air Temple Island all the time. It's more fun being here."

"Is that so?" Skoochy chuckled.

Jinora responded with a nod.

"Come on," Skoochy said with a low chuckle as he picked himself off the ground, "let's go somewhere else."

Before she could answer, Skoochy took hold of her hand and lifted her off the ground and began leading them off elsewhere. They made their way all the way to Yue Bay where they sat themselves down on a bench where they simply conversed with one another. Though Skoochy did most of the talking as Jinora listened intently.

She learnt a few interesting things about this street urchin boy. Skoochy was once a ring leader of a gang of other homeless children, but recently began detaching himself from them. She also found out Skoochy was an earthbender, albeit he wasn't particular good at it because of his lack of formal training. But it was enough for him to conjure up schemes to help him pickpocket unsuspecting victims. What she found quite interesting was that he really liked stories, despite his inability to read.

A lot of their conversation revolved around comparing how they grew up. They contrasted each other a great deal in that aspect, but that was far from surprising. Skoochy was only a baby when he was left at the doorsteps of an orphanage where it was hoped that he would be adopted into a loving family, but that never happened. Jinora was the complete opposite. After Skoochy ran away from the orphanage at the age of nine, he had to scavenge for himself while Jinora was given everything. It was quite often Skoochy would go to bed with an empty stomach, sometimes going days without eating. Jinora had never known the feeling. It went on and on and as it dragged on, Jinora more and more began to have an uneasy feeling pitting inside of her.

Skoochy had to struggle a lot in order to survive. Jinora lately had been inwardly complaining about life on Air Temple Island. But her life was like heaven compared to Skoochy's, and that made her feel a little guilty. Soon her ability to converse with Skoochy began to die down.

"What's wrong?" Skoochy asked, noticing Jinora's already quiet demeanour become even quieter.

Jinora looked at Skoochy, taking a moment before answering, "I feel really bad… Recently I've been complaining about life on the island, yet for you it would be heavenly."

Skoochy let out a chuckle which baffled Jinora. She wasn't expecting such a reaction out of him from such a topic.

"Why would life there be heavenly compared to mine?" Skoochy asked rhetorically, "There it's all just a bunch of rules and quiet and stuff. This is much more fun."

"But doesn't it get lonely?" she questioned, "Without a family?"

"Not really", he shrugged, "There's always the other street kids."

Jinora fell quiet again before letting out a yawn. It was starting to get late. She turned her gaze toward Air Temple Island. The final lights were beginning to shut off and soon the island fell dark. The thought of sleep felt enticing. She covered her mouth as another yawn escaped her.

Skoochy noticed her sudden yawning fit and caught wind of what she was thinking, "You going to head back to the island then?"

"Yeah," Jinora nodded as she stood up from the bench, extending the wings of her glider.

"Well see you then," Skoochy bid farewell as he too stood up, "I'll see you some other time then."

Jinora felt her face heat up at the thought of seeing Skoochy again. She quickly spun around in case her face started to redden.

"Y-yeah," Jinora stammered, "some other time."

Skoochy chuckled as Jinora leapt into the air and began flying off into the distance toward Air Temple Island. Skoochy watched her for a moment before she disappeared into the darkness. Immediately after he began making his way to the Dragon Flats borough, to his spot by the heated wall. He thought he should retire for the night too.

* * *

**Well, there's chapter 3.**

**Geez, took me long enough, huh? I guess I should say that updates are just going to be very ambiguous. Some will be fast, some will be painfully slow... Hope that isn't too off putting. I'm a little disappointed with how short this chapter is, but it looked so much longer in the Word document...**

**With my school term coming closer to an end, final assignments and grade affecting tasks are coming up, there isn't a whole lot of time to write. But rejoice! In a couple weeks it's school holidays in Australia and I will have time to write, so long as I don't get distracted and forget.**

**As I mentioned in the author note up the top, I've written starting chapters for a couple other fics. I'm considering releasing one of them, but I'm not sure if I want to juggle two fics at the same time. Maybe later on when Partners in Crime really gets rolling.**

**Response to a couple reviews:**

**JHLZNTL: Well, it's obvious an event like that is going to happen. I plan on it happening, but I haven't given it much thought yet so I'm not sure how or when it will happen. But it will eventually.**

**almostinsane: Thanks! I haven't exactly given much thought to this story. But that's actually given me something to think about. I'll definitely look into it and write about it.**


	4. What is he up to?

**Hello, reader! :D**

**Wow, I didn't realise how much time has actually gone by since I last updated this story... It seriously did not feel like two weeks. I don't really have an excuse for the slow update. Nevertheless, here it is! The next chapter in this a-little-less-than-epic Jinoochy tale!**

* * *

Weeks had passed. Jinora had made numerous trips to Republic City in secret during that time. Every time she went, she would find herself at Central City Station. Every time she found herself at Central City Station, she would be greeted by Skoochy. Every time she was greeted by Skoochy, they would go about the city having a fun time.

Jinora still couldn't get over the hustle and bustle nightlife of the capital city. So fast paced, loud and vibrant. Not like the contrasting calm, quiet and collected atmosphere of Air Temple Island. It just made things so much more enjoyable.

But above all, being accompanied by a friend, Skoochy, made the times in Republic City some of the best times of her life thus far. Every time she returned home and settled into bed, she would always have the same giddy smile of satisfaction on her face.

Today, however, did not permit her to leave the island. Many people at Air Temple Island were staying up late, meaning anyone could walk into her room while she was gone. By the time people would start to retire tonight, she would have already long since been consumed by sleep.

Jinora stayed cooped up in her room for much of the latter half of the day, reading through book after book as she simply let time go by. Again, she reminded herself how drab and boring her life was on Air Temple Island. Korra did make things a little livelier, but it was nothing compared to the sense of freedom she gained from going to Republic City.

She laid down flat on her back on her bed while she held the book she was reading above her head. It was a Northern Water Tribe story of a man's strange misadventures in trying to carve the perfect betrothal necklace for the woman he loved. It was filled with a lot of humour which her great-uncle Sokka would have enjoyed, but it was the sort of humour that Jinora detested. She found herself rolling her eyes at many of the remarks in the book. She figured it must have been a Water Tribe thing.

Jinora yawned and lost her grip on the book, dropping it on her face. Silently cursing, she sat herself up and let the book drop from her face into her hands. With a huff she closed the book shut and placed it aside for she had long since gotten bored of it.

She found herself climbing out of bed and making her way to her room window where she began to gaze at Republic City's skyline. She wanted to be there, but knew she shouldn't go.

She puffed her cheeks in frustration.

She began to stare blankly into space in the rough general direction of where Central City Station was. That brought Skoochy to mind because they always met there. She began to wonder what he was doing. If he was bored out of his mind like she was. If he missed her like she did.

_Wait, what?_

Jinora felt her face heat up as she buried her face in her palms. Why did she always have to think like that? Her hands still covering her face, she let out an annoyed groan.

She lifted her head from her hands and looked back up at the city before her.

_But really, _she thought, _what is he up to?_

* * *

_Just a little closer._

Skoochy shifted his nimble fingers a little deeper into the man's loose pocket. It would have been a lot easier if the man was standing still, but he was walking at a brisk pace, and Skoochy had to follow suit.

He saw the man pocket the money. He saw how much money there was. He knew that it would be enough to feed him and his small group of friends for at least a week. He had to do this. He had to try.

He delved a little deeper into the pocket. He could feel the Yuan notes bundled together, he tried to extract the money from the man's pocket. But suddenly the man came to a road crossing and stopped walking, causing Skoochy to slam into him.

The man looked down at Skoochy and immediately saw the child's hand in his pocket.

"Hey!" the man shouted.

He closed his eyes and sighed in defeat. Then suddenly he felt something hard come into contact with his cheek with enough force to knock him to the ground. Skoochy looked up and realised the man elbowed him in the face.

"Lousy street urchin," the man spat before making his way, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

Skoochy rubbed the sore spot that formed on his cheek bone under his right eye as he stood up.

_That's going to bruise._

Looking around himself, he saw many bystanders giving him scornful looks. Ignoring them, he turned around and walked back into the direction from which he came.

Still rubbing his cheek, a few other children who had been following his progress jumped out various from hiding places and gathered around him.

"Skooch'," Xing, the boy who took Jinora's bag, said, "you okay, man?"

"Eh," Skoochy shrugged, "been hit harder before."

"What do we do now?" a little girl asked.

"Try to pickpocket someone else, Mei Li," Skoochy answered, "but I'm not feeling up to trying again after that."

That was followed by an unconfident murmur among the children. They weren't feeling up to trying to pickpocket either, after seeing Skoochy get hit in the face trying to pickpocket someone.

"Whatever," Skoochy said as he stuffed his hands in his pocket, walking away, "I'm sure you guys will figure something out."

"Where are you going, Skooch'?" Xing asked.

"Central City Station," Skoochy answered.

"Meeting that airbender girlfriend of yours, Skoochy?" Mei Li said in a mocking tone.

Skoochy stopped in his tracks at the mention of Jinora being his girlfriend. Jinora his girlfriend? That was a stupid idea, as if that would happen.

Skoochy spun around and stared blankly at the little girl who had made such a ludicrous suggestion. But the only reaction he got out of giving her his blank stare was a giggle fit. As the other children began to laugh, Skoochy sighed and chose to ignore them. He spun himself back around and continued to make his way to Central City Station.

His main concern was rustling up enough Yuans to eat tonight. Jinora hadn't actually crossed his mind the whole night. And she still hadn't when he decided to try his luck at Central City Station, their usual meeting spot, until little Mei Li mentioned her. Now that she was in his mind, Skoochy couldn't seem to be able to get her out of his mind now.

_Damn it, Mei Li._

Skoochy huffed in annoyance at his mind's inability to divert itself somewhere else as he continued to make his way toward Central City Station. Stuffing his hands into his pockets, he picked up the pace because of the looks other pedestrians were giving him. Apparently people still weren't used to seeing homeless children roaming the streets on their own, and that still annoyed him.

He later found himself in the familiar surroundings of Central City Station. The warm orange glow of the flame producing from Zuko's statue was always welcoming. The area around the statue was like a second home to him. Likewise for the many other homeless children who would gather around Central City Station late at night. It wasn't an unusual sight to see many children sleeping around the statue's pedestal on a hot summer night.

Skoochy looked around him, wondering how he could rustle up some grub tonight. He wasn't feeling confident enough to try to pickpocket someone and he wasn't in any position to accept bribes from someone. He let out a sigh, guessing he would just have to go hungry tonight.

He decided to take a seat by Zuko's statue. Maybe Jinora would show up and liven things up a bit. But after a while of sitting there, staring off into space, he came to a conclusion that she wasn't going to be showing up tonight. Reluctantly, he picked himself off the ground and decided to just stroll aimlessly.

Skoochy wandered for a good while before he took a moment to just see where he ended up. He found himself out the front of a small fire temple. He took a peek through the entrance and immediately saw the donation box. He already knew where this was going.

He looked about him, there was no one around.

_Good._

He stepped through the entrance of the temple and made his way over to the donation box. He looked around again. No one. He focused his attention back to the donation box. The slit of the metal box was too thin for anyone to stick their fingers into, and the lid was locked shut.

He thought to himself for a moment before giving it a shake. The box shifted on its bolted down stand slightly as Skoochy shook it. He was greeted by the sound of the metallic rattle of coins.

_How do those metalbenders do it?_

He once again checked to see if he was being watched. Satisfied by the silence that surrounded him, he took a deep breath. He tried to picture the coins in the box. He tried to picture the impurities in the metal, the impurities that he could manipulate with his bending. He concentrated intently. He imagined the coins levitating out of the small slit and into his hand.

Skoochy took up a crude stance and raise his arms. He tried to feel for the earthy impurities in the coins. He raised his arm in a motion to try to lift the coins, but nothing happened. There was no sound of the rattle of coins. He did nothing.

He sighed. He guessed that he would need formal training, something he would never be able to afford, to be able to metalbend. He let out another sigh, more frustrated than the last, in defeat.

He glanced to his side and saw a few pairs of shoes arranged neatly before the wooden floor boards of the temple. People were meant to take their shoes off before entering.

He looked down at his own shoes. They were completely tattered. He could see his toes poking out of his right shoe. He looked back at the neatly arranged shoes and spotted a pair that seemed to be his size.

Skoochy smirked to himself. At least he wouldn't leave empty handed.

He quickly yanked off his shoes and slipped his feet into the other pair. Snickering, he neatly placed his tattered shoes in the place where his newly acquired shoes previously were.

He looked around to check that no one saw what he just did. Happy that the coast was clear, he high tailed it out of there.

* * *

The shoes were a little loose fitting, but they were a lot more comfortable than his old ones nonetheless.

The sky was dark as he made his way through the Dragon Flats borough to his spot by the heated wall. Skoochy was completely unaware of the two teenagers who eyed him menacingly. More specifically, they were eyeing the brand new shoes that he was wearing. They followed him through the borough, and when Skoochy turned into a secluded alley, they struck.

Skoochy was caught completely unaware. One of them started with a heavy shove to the back which threw Skoochy to the ground. They both proceeded to kicking the living daylights out of him.

Skoochy managed to roll onto his back to see his adversaries. They were not much older than him, probably no more a year his seniors. They weren't much bigger than him either. He could have taken them on if it weren't for the surprise attack.

One of the teenagers stopped kicking and began to untie Skoochy's shoe laces.

"It's just too bad for you," he taunted, "but I needed a new pair of shoes."

Skoochy pulled his feet away before slamming his feet into the teenager's face before trying to pick himself off the ground. He didn't get far because the second attacker kicked him in the stomach, winding him. Skoochy fell flat on his face, struggling to regain his breath as he was kicked in the side again and again. It didn't take long for them to tear the shoes from his feet after that.

"You stupid hog-monkey," said the teenager that Skoochy kicked in the face, "this is for kicking me."

And with that, he sent an extra hard kick straight into Skoochy's stomach. The air was thrown out of his lungs and sent him into a coughing fit. They simply laughed at him before making off with his shoes.

Still coughing, he quickly picked himself off the ground. He could see them making off with his shoes. He wasn't in any shape to be able to chase them down. He stamped his foot down in frustration.

When his bare foot struck the ground, he felt an overwhelming feeling that he was at one with the ground beneath him. He looked back up at the muggers before glancing back down at the ground. He had an idea. He had seen people earthbend properly before, so he tried to copy their movements.

Taking a deep breath, he took a long step forward with his right foot, stamping hard into the ground while at the same time swinging his right hand forward in a horizontal chopping motion. It sent a ripple in through the ground straight toward the two teenagers which knocked them off their feet. Skoochy stepped forward with his left, bring a small chunk of rock out of the ground which he sent flying with a punch. The rock chunk hit home, knocking the one carrying the shoes back down to the ground as he tried to stand. He then mirrored that motion and sent a chunk flying toward the second, which hit its mark.

Skoochy quicky half limped, half ran toward his two adversaries. He was pissed. When they tried to stand up, he bent a chunk out of the ground and threw it at them. He wasn't going to let them get away.

He quickly reached them. They looked pathetic. They simply whimpered as Skoochy towered over them. Skoochy figured they were non-benders and would not be able to compete with him, nor would they bother now that they knew he could earthbend.

Skoochy reached down and snatched his shoes from the hands of one of them before proudly slipping them back onto his feet.

"That's what you get," Skoochy said in a threatening tone, "for trying to steal from Skoochy."

Before he left, he laid a kick into one of them before turning and continuing his way to his spot by the warm brick wall. It wasn't long before he reached his little spot that he called home.

He tiredly threw himself against the warm spot before slowly sliding down to the ground. He felt sore all over after being continually kicked by two people. But he was thankful they didn't result to kicking him in the head. At least he'd be able to hide the bruises from the assault from everyone under his clothes. He hated when people fussed over him. But he wouldn't be able to hide his bruised cheek from earlier that night.

He just hoped Jinora wouldn't overreact if she saw his bruised face. But as much as he hoped, he knew for a fact that she would make a huge fuss over it. It was just in her nature as an airbender and Air Nomad.

With a yawn, he shut his eyes, rubbing his sore spots one last time before he fell into slumber.

* * *

Jinora had been gazing out at the night skyline of Republic City with a blank mind for quite some time. When her mind began to process thoughts again, she found herself once again wondering what Skoochy was up to.

_Probably nothing overly exciting, _she concluded.

With a yawn she stepped away from her window. It was getting late and she was tired. She slipped out of her current attire and replaced it with her red sleeping robes before crawling into bed.

Jinora stared up at the ceiling for some time. She couldn't help but imagine Skoochy sleeping upright against the wall. At the same time, she couldn't felt but feel a little guilty because of the fact that she was able to sleep in a warm bed while all he had was a heated brick wall. She guessed he must have been used to it, but it still had to be uncomfortable for him.

She tried to get the thoughts out of her mind so that the guilty feeling would go away, because that feeling was keeping her awake. As much as she tried, she couldn't stop thinking about Skoochy's discomfort. She finally gave up and tossed her blanket aside and let out a sigh.

_What can I do to make this feeling go away?_

After a while of mulling it over, she came to a conclusion. She plucked her pillow off her bed and dropped it onto the timber floor. She then grabbed her blanket and slipped off her bed and onto the floor.

Despite the pillow and the warm blanket, the cold floor was still very uncomfortable. That put her mind at ease. The discomfort made falling asleep hard and she found herself shuffling around under her blanket a lot. But eventually, she was able to fall fast asleep.

* * *

**And that's chapter 4.**

**I am well into my first week of my two week break from school. In fact, I'm at the end of the first week... One more week and school starts again. *sarcastic cheer* My original intent was to get at least two chapters during this break, but judging by how long past chapters have taken me, doesn't look like that will happen. But fear not, for I am not abandoning this! I am just merely going at a slow pace... As pain staking as it is...**


	5. Feeling sore

**I'm here! And I bring a gift! That gift being chapter 5!**

**Slow update, I know. But if it makes you feel any better, this chapter ended up being more that 5,500 words long. About twice as long as any of the previous chapters.**

** Enjoy!**

* * *

Pema laid out breakfast on the table and was immediately greeted by many hungry mouths. She quickly did a head count. There was her husband Tenzin who was holding Rohan, Korra the avatar, the bending brothers Mako and Bolin who had long since taken up residence on Air Temple Island, loud Ikki and hyperactive little Meelo.

She stopped to think for a moment. Someone was missing. A moment later she realised that Jinora wasn't present. It was so unlike her. Normally she would have been one of the first people there, waiting quietly with a book in hand.

_How odd, _Pema thought.

"Where's Jinora?" Pema asked everyone.

They all looked amongst themselves, muttering, exchanging looks and shrugs. Pema sighed and figured she was still asleep for whatever reason. She excused herself to go check her daughter's room.

Finally reaching the women's dormitory, she walked down the hall and slid open Jinora's room door and was surprised to find her daughter strewn out across the floor. Jinora laid there on her back with her limbs spread out in a star pattern, her head wasn't even on her pillow and her blanket only covered her left leg. Her mouth hung open and was on the verge of drooling while her hair was all over the place; her trademark bun somehow had undone itself. Pema couldn't help but burst out laughing at the sight of her daughter in such a state.

Pema's laughter stirred Jinora from her slumber. She opened her eyes and immediately felt sore and stiff. She groaned out loud as she struggled to sit up. Jinora looked up to see her mother laughing at her. She suppressed the urge to roll her eyes as she wiped the saliva that seemed to well around her mouth.

"What are you doing on the floor, Jinora?" Pema asked after she settled down.

Jinora yawned as she struggled to stretch, a few crack could be heard from her back. She groaned in slight agony at her aching body.

"I guess I… Fell off my bed?" Jinora lied. She knew exactly why she was on the floor.

Pema laughed softly into her hand, "Come on, sleepy head, you'll miss breakfast."

And with that, she left Jinora to her own devices and she made her way to breakfast. Jinora groaned once again as she stood herself up. She was already regretting her decision to sleep on the floor.

She slowly creaked her stiffened joints as she limped her way over to her wardrobe to get her day clothes. She felt even more pain as she slipped in and out of her clothing. It took her a good while, but eventually she was dressed. She looked into the mirror and saw the trademark bun in her hair had somehow come undone and now her hair was longer on one side than the other.

Her arms felt too sore to lift up to fix her hair so he just left it with a sigh. She groaned as she started making her way to the main building where she would join the others for breakfast. It was a lot longer than it usually would, her sore body made it hard to move quickly. She moved slowly, taking small steps, her arms barely moving as she slouched.

By the time she reached the dining room, everybody else was half way through their meal. Jinora found herself to be the centre of attention as she walked through the door way.

"Hey Jinora, what's up? You look like an old lady," Korra laughed, referring to Jinora's slow moving, slouched composure.

Pema chucked, "See? What did I tell you?"

Everybody let out a small laugh. Jinora merely responded with an annoyed, pained groan as she took her seat between Bolin and Ikki before letting out a yawn. Apparently she didn't get enough sleep despite the sleep in. She stared down at her food which was already laid out for her and resisted the urge to plant her face into the bowl and eat her breakfast like an animal. But she persevered and used her spoon, despite the aching feeling of lifting it.

"Jinora," Ikki began, Jinora grimacing because she knew what Ikki was about to start, "why do you look so tired? And why is your body aching? Is it because you slept on the floor? Why were you sleeping on the floor? And why does your hair look weird? How come to didn't fix the bun? Why—"

"Ikki, that's enough," Tenzin interrupted, seeing his eldest daughter's obvious annoyance, "leave your sister alone."

Jinora silently thanked her father as she continued to scoop food into her mouth. She really wished she hadn't slept on the floor. But would she have been able to sleep at all if she stayed in her bed? Jinora decided she didn't want to dwell on it.

"Oh you should have seen her," Pema told the three teenagers who sat across from her, "Jinora was lying on the floor like a drooling star. I would never had imagined Jinora to be one to toss and turn so much that she would fall out of bed. I always thought it to be Ikki or Meelo who would do that."

"Hey, little air child," Bolin said, nudging Jinora with his elbow, "what's got you so restless at night? Did you meet a boy recently?"

Jinora's eyes widened in surprised at that last part, unable to hide the expression on her face. Fortunately for her, no one saw it because their attention turned to Tenzin, who dropped his spoon which clattered noisily.

"What!?" Tenzin said, a little too loudly, "What are you talking about? That's a ludicrous suggestion!"

Everybody but Jinora laughed at Tenzin's outburst. Pema glanced toward her eldest daughter and saw the shocked look on her face.

_Maybe it isn't so ludicrous?_

The conversation at the table seemed to stick to the subject of Jinora and her unusual state this morning. Soon all but Jinora had finished their meals and went off to go about their day.

Pema stayed behind to clean up the dishes. When she went to pick up Ikki's bowl, she placed a comforting hand on Jinora's shoulder.

"Come find me when you're done," Pema told her, "I'll massage those aching joints for you, okay?

"Thanks mum," Jinora said appreciatively.

* * *

Jinora planted her face straight into the pillow. She was grateful she didn't need to move now that she was lying down on her parents' bed. She was even more grateful that Pema was going to massage her aching body.

"My, my, Jinora," Pema shook her head, "you're stiff all over."

"You don't need to remind me," Jinora groaned through the pillow.

Pema chuckled as she started the massage. Jinora couldn't help but groan. It wasn't a very soothing massage, but it was a bit painful as her mother began to press her hands against her aching muscles. But after a while the pain subsided as her muscles began to feel better. Jinora's groans soon fell silent.

Pema noticed this took this moment between them as an opportunity to question her daughter.

"You know, Jinora," Pema began, "You have been acting very strangely lately."

Jinora shifted her face from the pillow, "I have?"

"Yes you have," Pema said, "you've been acting all restless lately, as though you're itching to do something. You can barely concentrate on your books, and not to mention this morning I found you sleeping on the floor."

"Oh, I never really noticed," Jinora lied.

Pema eyed the back of Jinora's head as she continued to massage her daughter. She wasn't convinced.

"Is it a boy?" Pema asked as she raised an eyebrow, "Have you met a boy recently?"

Jinora's eyes shot wide open.

"What?" Jinora said a little too loudly, "No I haven't."

She realised she said it a little too loudly for it to be to be convincing. Pema caught the slip up in an instant and smirked.

"Is it that young Fire Nation boy that passed through here with that tourist group a few weeks ago?" Pema pressed on, "Have a little crush do you?"

"Who?" Jinora asked genuinely.

Pema frowned, so it had to be some other boy. But she couldn't think of anyone else her daughter could have possibly met. But no one came to mind. She tried to press the subject further but Jinora continued to evade it. Jinora knew this evasion would only spark her mother's curiosity further, but she couldn't think of anything to say. She was never one to lie a lot.

Soon Jinora's aching body began to feel well enough that she'd be able to move about with little struggle. And with that, she politely and subtly high tailed it from her questioning mother. But before she could make any head way, Pema called her back, saying she wanted to fix up her hair, which was a mess. Reluctantly, Jinora sat herself back down on her parents' bed. Pema grabbed a hair tie from her dresser and set herself down next to her daughter.

"You know," Pema said as she started tying Jinora's hair into the same old bun she normally sported, "if you really haven't met a boy, you're doing a very bad job of convincing me."

Jinora remained silent, not knowing how to respond.

"My point exactly," Pema smirked as she finished up, "Okay fine, if you want to play the silent game, I'll just bug you more about."

As soon as her mother finished tying her hair, Jinora stood up from the bed. After thanking her mother for massaging her joints, she quickly made her way away from her badgering mother.

Pema began to chuckle at her daughter's strange behaviour. It seemed that Jinora was at the age where she was beginning to have an interest in boys. Pema sighed, she always thought that that time wouldn't come until at least another couple years.

_My, my, _Pema thought, _she sure grew up quickly. Oh well, so the game begins._

* * *

Skoochy woke up in slight agony. He groaned as he peeled himself away from the brick wall that he had been resting against. He lifted his shirt and found various parts of his upper body were covered in black spots, bruises. He blew his bangs out of his face, which only seemed to find its way back down in his eyes, as he recalled the mugging that had occurred the previous night. He just hoped another wouldn't happen again within the next couple days. It would only be even more painful now that his body was riddled with bruises.

He stood himself up as he straightened his hat and vest. He had a new day to get through and his stomach was complaining for food. He quickly rummaged through his pockets and managed to find a single Yuan coin. Well, that was a start toward being able to buy a small meal.

_One Yuan down, _Skoochy mused mentally,_ a few more to go._

Skoochy stretched with a yawn before he set off away from the Dragon Flats borough toward the city centre. He had a slight limp because of yesterday's incident. But gradually the pain began to ease and he was walking somewhat normally.

Soon he found himself in the familiar surroundings of Central City Station. Zuko's statue illuminated the darkened area with its always orange glow under the overcast morning sky.

Skoochy looked up at the sky and hoped it wouldn't rain. A gust of wind blew by which sent a shiver down his spine. He made a mental note to find a jacket on a clothes line sometime soon before he got sick from the cold weather. Winter was approaching after all.

He suddenly had an envious thought about his unlikely friend, Jinora. She was probably cooped up in a warm, comfortable bed, having a nice sleep in right now. Not having to worry about the cold or when her next meal would be. Skoochy huffed in envy at the thought of those simple luxuries, but he decided not to dwell on it. Right now, his priority was to rustle up something to eat.

"Skooch'!"

Skoochy heard a familiar voice call out his name. He turned around and was greeted by a friendly punch to the arm by Xing the bag snatcher. Skoochy returned the gesture with a playful shove.

"Your face looks like crap, Skooch'," Xing pointed at Skoochy's face.

"Yeah, I figured," Skoochy huffed, "and I'm hurting in more places too."

"What do you mean?" Xing asked.

Skoochy recalled what happened after he parted ways with the group the night prior to Xing. He showed off his new shoes that he picked up from the small temple and lifted his shirt to show the bruises he got from when he was attacked by those two boys as he told the tale of his night.

"In the end," Skoochy concluded, "I ended up going to bed hungry. But at least I got to knock a few heads and a new pair of shoes."

Xing laughed slightly at that last part before he stuck his hands into his pockets and extracted a couple Yuan notes and handed them to Skoochy.

"Here," Xing offered, "I managed to steal a bag with a bunch of Yuans in it. I saved some for you, Skooch'."

Skoochy was about to turn down the money, for he hated being handed free things, when his stomach gargled loudly, reminding him that he hadn't eaten in ages. Little Xing chuckled when Skoochy grumbled under his breath as he reluctantly took the money before half thanking him.

The two conversed briefly before Xing ran off elsewhere. Skoochy, now alone with some cash, decided it would be a good time to get himself a warm meal.

* * *

Night settled over Air Temple Island at a pace that seemed slower than usual to Jinora. But, nonetheless, night eventually came and she began to hope that tonight would bring an opportunity to visit Republic City, to see her friend Skoochy.

As the last of the light from the sun disappeared, Republic City's skyline lit up brightly with artificial light while the small island became a dimly lit body of candle and lantern light.

Jinora found herself once again leaning against her window sill with her cheeks buried in her hands as she stared across Yue Bay to stare in awe at the sight of Republic City before her. It had been a long time since she had last been to the city, and she was anxious to go again. Racing air scooters with Korra and her siblings just wasn't the sort of thrill ride that would suffice to her anymore, especially since Korra would cheat and use the avatar state whenever she was losing. What she wanted was to be in the city with her unlikely friend, Skoochy.

Skoochy, the homeless boy who she had made a friend out of. Oh, how her father would freak out if he knew about the young street urchin. Jinora chuckled lightly to herself at the thought, but quickly the humour disappeared when she realised it wouldn't be a laughing matter if he did find out. Far from it. She sighed quietly to herself. She did miss his company though, the boy who always seemed cheery despite his own circumstances.

Jinora eyed her glider the was pressed up against its usual spot next to her window. She knew she couldn't go at this very given moment, for many people were still awake meaning someone could walk into her room while she was gone. She knew she had to wait for at least another couple hours before trying anything. But lately, a couple hours would feel like an eternity. She was feeling an impatience like she had never experienced before. She just wanted to go. Go now and indulge on the sense of freedom she would feel whenever she left for the city. But knowing that she couldn't, at least not yet, made her feel saddened.

Huffing in impatience, Jinora stumbled over to her bed and threw herself onto the mattress before pulling at the blanket to wrap herself in a cocoon. She let out a sigh as she thought about the city and its sights and landmarks and a certain earthbending street urchin, Skoochy. She missed his company and she just wanted nothing more but to see her friend again.

This sudden impulse of impatience brought a frustrated tear to her eye. She wiped away the tear with a slight sniffle as she sat up, still wrapped in her blanket. That was a surprise. She never thought being away from the city would reduce her to such a low that she'd shed tears.

She never really shed tears much in her life. This made her wonder why it was that this affected her so much. After a moment of thought, she decided to disregard it and threw aside her blanket before he stood up and walked over to the bookshelf across the room. She decided she would try to pass the time with a book.

She grabbed one without bothering to see what it was before she plopped herself back onto the mattress of her bed before she opened to the first page. She skimmed through the first couple of pages before she shut the book closed before tossing it aside. She just couldn't concentrate on books anymore.

All she really felt that she could do was hope that she could maintain her sanity while she waited for the next couple hours to pass by so she could see if it was safe to leave. She found herself staring off into blank space for a few minutes before she shook her head to return to reality.

Jinora was beginning to get restless. She turned and planted her face into her pillow before letting out a muffled, irritated groan. She tossed and turned for a bit before she stood up from her bed and shuffled over to her room window. She stared out toward the city again. The now darker sky made the city's skyline seem even brighter. Jinora let out another sigh before leaning against the window sill.

_I can't stand this!_

Jinora suppressed the urge to stomp her foot on the ground and let out a yell of impatience. She really needed to find something to keep herself occupied before she started pulling at her hair.

She brought her hands up in front of her before making some circular motions, compressing some of the air between her hands into a ball. She couldn't see it, but she could feel the spherical cushion of air between her hands. She began to poke her fingers at the air ball between her hands. The strange sensation of feeling something that was there that she couldn't see kept her occupied for a short while. She soon found herself lying on her bed, still playing around with the invisible cushion of air. She let the cushion of air return to its regular state before playing around with a few other small airbending tricks.

The young airbender remained like that for about an hour, completely absorbed in her element like a passionate musician would be with their instrument. The feeling of controlling her element took away the irritating feeling of impatience and replaced it with a more calm and collected feeling.

She could have remained like that for much longer, but she was brought back to reality when there was a knock on her door. Jinora sat up as the door opened to find her mother poke her head in through the gap.

"Jinora," Pema said, "your father and I are turning in for the night. If you need anything, say so now or wait until morning."

"I'm fine, mum." Jinora said as she suppressed the wide grin that threatened to spread across her face.

Pema said goodnight before sliding the door shut. Jinora waited for the sound of her mother's footsteps to fade away before she shot out of bed.

_This is it, _Jinora's mind shouted, _time to go back to Republic City to see Skoochy!_

Jinora reached under her bed and grabbed the messy pile of stolen clothing she had hidden underneath before she hastily slipped the clothing onto her small frame. She put on her last glove before looking into a mirror to adjust the black beret on her head before she huffed and nodded in satisfaction. It was time to go.

She quickly slid her door open and poked head out to check to see if anyone was coming before she shut it again. She strode over to her room window and grabbed her glider as she climbed onto the window sill. With a final look over her shoulder, she leapt from the window sill, extended the wings of her glider and took flight toward the city.

* * *

Skoochy never thought that at any point in his life that he'd be accepting bribes from a police officer. He always thought it would be the other way around. In fact, he had done so in the past, on many occasions. But here he was, pocketing a second 5 Yuan note that was given to him in exchange for a little information he had picked up.

"Yeah, I saw him. He was poking his head into a few trash cans," Skoochy informed the officer before his stuck his hand back out, "and then…"

The police officer grimaced as he took out another note and stuck it into the boy's hand. Skoochy gave the officer a very brief blank look before he smirked at the irritated officer. He stuffed the note into his vest pocket before he gave out the last bit of information, unable to drag it on any further.

"The guy stuffed his hands into one of the trash cans," Skoochy told the officer in a low voice, "and then he pulled out a package, about the size of one of those gloves the Equalists were running around with last year, then went running in that direction. Now that's all you're getting out of me."

Skoochy chuckled inwardly when the officer gave him an annoyed thanks for the information. Skoochy watched as the officer walked away. He was curious as to what was going down. He happened to see a member of the Triple Threats rummaging through bins looking for a package a few hours ago and later found an officer looking around for information. But soon he pushed those thoughts out of his mind when he counted the money he had managed to collect today.

He made his way into a discrete spot in an alleyway between two buildings out of the way of prying eyes as he dug into his pockets to access his spoils. After a moment of counting, he found himself in possession of 27 Yuans. He grinned, that would last him a few days.

He stuffed the money into his vest pocket before making his way to Central City Station in a cheery mood. He wasn't going to have to worry too much for a few days. He just hoped that no one would try mug him like the two teenagers who attacked him yesterday. And with that thought, Skoochy picked up his pace a little more.

Soon, he found the area around him to have a flickering orange tint and he knew he had arrived at his destination. He looked up into the warm glow of the hypnotic flame producing from the statue ahead of him as he approached it. He stepped up to the statue's plinth and leaned against the fence that bordered the statues as he look around his surroundings. Not a familiar face to be seen anywhere.

_Great, _Skoochy thought to himself.

This was going to be a boring night. He was all alone with still plenty of energy left in him. He huffed as he tried to think of what to do to keep himself occupied for the coming hours ahead of him. He sat himself down on the steps of the plinth and buried his cheek in his palm in thought.

As if on cue, a solution appeared before him as he turned his head to his left and saw a familiar face. It was Jinora, dressed up in the clothes that he had stolen for her weeks ago, clutching onto her glider which she had in front of her, her eyes darting from side to side as if to be searching for something. When her eyes finally turned to him and her eyes stopped searching, for she had found what she was looking for. A large smile spread across the young airbender's face as she started to run toward Skoochy. Upon reaching him, she took a seat on the plinth to Skoochy's left.

_Why'd she have to show up now?_

"Hi Skoochy!" Jinora greeted excitedly.

"Hey," Skoochy replied.

Jinora's cheery face turned into a worried frown when she noticed the bruise on the right side of his face. Skoochy noticed her change of expression and realised why it was. He subconsciously covered his bruise with his hand as he turned away from her.

_Crap,_ Skoochy cursed mentally, _how could I forget?_

"Skoochy," Jinora said with a worried tone, "what happened to your face?"

Skoochy grumbled under his breath a bit knowing that he was now unable to hide it or lie about it. He uncovered his bruise and turned to face Jinora once again. He remained silent for a moment, looking down at the ground in thought about how he was going to say it. In the end, he recalled the events of what happened to him the previous night in a similar fashion as how he told Xing earlier that day.

"Oh spirits," Jinora gasped, "are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Skoochy told with a dismissive wave, "I'm fine."

They both fell silent for a moment. Skoochy turned his gaze straight ahead of him as the silence dragged on a bit. Jinora looked toward the homeless boy with a worried look. He had been hurt and no one but himself could have done anything about it.

"Does it hurt?" Jinora asked, as she reached across with her left hand to touch his bruised cheek.

As quickly as he noticed Jinora reaching over, Skoochy felt her cold finger tips come in contact with his bruised face. In surprise, he turned to face the younger airbender. Jinora blushed in surprise when she found that because Skoochy turned his head, her hand was cupping his cheek. She read enough romance novels to know how intimate it looked and Skoochy must've had a good idea of it. Her face quickly flushing with a shade of red, she snatched her hand away as she suppressed the urge to squeal.

"It doesn't hurt," Skoochy informed her before continuing in a teasing manner, "but it does feel a lot colder now."

Skoochy rubbed his hand against his cheek to warm it. As he did that he looked at Jinora with a blank expression before chuckling at her. Jinora simply looked away with a pout while her face continued to redden as Skoochy continued to lightly laugh at her.

* * *

They soon left Central City Station to walk around after Jinora started to complain about the hard floor they were sitting on and insisted that they walk around. Skoochy happily obliged, not wanting to hang around in one spot for too long. After some time, they eventually found themselves in the dimly illuminated city park.

Jinora was reminded of the first time she snuck out to Republic City. How she and Skoochy walked through this very park. The only difference was that they weren't holding hands like the first time. She looked around her and again found various couples spending time together all around the park. How she envied them. With that envy came a feeling of feeling out of place. She wasn't in a relationship, and the sight of so many couples made her feel uncomfortable. She wanted to grab hold of his hand and lean against him much like the people around them. As quickly as she felt her face heat up from the thought of it, she quickly berated such thoughts, for they were silly and childish.

Jinora looked toward Skoochy, who was walking by her side. He did not seem to be taking any notice of this. But as a matter of fact he did. Skoochy was just good at hiding things. In truth, he too was envious of the people around them. He was beginning to regret passing through here at this time of night. All these people who are without a care in the world for the presence of their partner is all they need as all their problems simply disappear in the moment. Skoochy wanted something like that. He wanted to be able to live a carefree life. But his circumstances wouldn't allow it.

He glanced at the young airbender beside him. He could see Jinora looking at the people around the park with envious eyes, he could make out the slight red tint in her cheeks and chuckled, causing Jinora to look at him.

"What's so funny?" she asked him.

"Jealous of all those people are you?" Skoochy said in a teasing manner.

Jinora let out a wistful sigh as she looked at one particular couple embracing each other by the water's edge. Skoochy took that as a 'yes' and chuckled a little more. Jinora scowled at him in response to his teasing chuckle, but that only caused him to laugh.

Skoochy's laughter stopped after a few moments before he simply looked at Jinora with a warm smile. Jinora was taken aback by how handsome the young street urchin looked with that smile that he had. She couldn't help but stare at his face. Jinora quickly snapped back into reality when said street urchin took hold of her hand.

"Here," Skoochy said, "you can hold my hand tonight."

"O-okay," Jinora stuttered as her face turned many shades of red and pink.

Inside, she was squirming as her heart began to race at the close contact between her and the young boy. On the outside, Jinora had a huge smile on her face that wouldn't go away even if she tried. Skoochy gave a low chuckle at her reaction before he picked up the pace. He led her to the side of a pond where he propped himself down on the soft grass. Jinora joined him on the ground, still holding his hand.

They sat there by the water in comfortable silence for a few minutes. Jinora became entranced by how the lights around them reflected off the ripples of the water's surface. She pushed a small gust of wind over the water and made the surface shimmer and gave a cheerful sigh. This was a nice spot.

Skoochy let go of Jinora's hand as he went to lie back on the grass, resting his hands behind his head so that he could gaze up at the night sky comfortably. Jinora's hand that the boy once held suddenly felt cold now that he had let go. She suppressed the urge to rub her hands together because of the chilling feeling.

"You can't see the moon tonight," Skoochy said abruptly.

"What?" Jinora said as she turned to face the boy.

"It's so cloudy tonight," Skoochy said, "that you can't see the moon. Or even the stars now that you mention it."

"At least those clouds aren't rain clouds," Jinora replied.

Skoochy smirked, "I guess."

Silence hung in the air around them. It wasn't a comfortable sort of silence like before. Jinora started to feel a little uncomfortable, not knowing how to break the silence between them. She looked at the homeless boy that lay on the ground beside her. He did not seem to mind too much.

But suddenly, Skoochy huffed loudly.

"Hey, Jinora," the boy said, "come lie down next to me."

Jinora gave him a questioning look, but the boy simply insisted. After a moment of hesitation, she conceded and laid herself down on the soft grass. She glanced at the boy beside her and put her hands behind her head, imitating his position.

"What now?" Jinora questioned.

"The sky is normally filled with stars," Skoochy spoke vaguely, staring at the night sky, "and the moon."

"What are you going on about?"

"It's nice to look up at the stars sometimes," he began, "it really makes problems go away for a bit."

Jinora looked up at the sky and found nothing but a pitch black sky and pouted at the sight.

"Stupid clouds," she said.

"Heh, yeah," Skoochy chuckled, "stupid clouds…"

They laid there for quite some time. Sometimes in silence, other times topics of conversation would pop up for brief moments as they looked up at the blank nothingness of the clouded night sky. Jinora found it very relaxing having the soft grass beneath her under the cool air. Soon her eyelids began to feel heavy and sleep threatened to consume her at that very moment.

With a yawn, she sat up from her prone position and stretched. It was just about time to go. Skoochy saw her begin to stand up and rose with her.

"Gonna go, are you?" Skoochy asked.

"Yeah," Jinora nodded, "can you walk with me to Yue Bay?"

Skoochy happily obliged to the young girl's request and walked with her to Yue Bay. It was a rather quiet journey, minus the passing Satomobiles and the chatter of other pedestrians. Jinora was surprised that despite the lateness of the night, the city was still very much alive with activity.

Before long, they arrived at Yue Bay. Jinora stifled a yawn as she looked toward her home across the body of water before her. She extended the wings of her glider with a loud click and took up a stance ready to take flight. She looked toward her friend one more time.

"Well," she said, "I'll see you again some other time."

Skoochy smiled at her, "Yeah, I guess so."

"Okay um… Bye, I guess."

"Yeah, yeah," Skoochy said as he started to turn back to way he came, but not before parting with a wave, "see you."

Jinora watched as Skoochy began to walk off. She felt her heart sink a little at the fact that he wasn't going to wait around until the last moment that she actually left. Shaking the thought away, she turned back toward Air Temple Island. After a few deep breaths, she took a few quick steps forward before jumping into air and as quickly as she jumped, she took flight back toward home.

* * *

**And that was chapter 5. What do you think of the story thus far? Reviews are most welcome.**

**That took a while to do... School has been back in session for a few weeks now and I've been caught up in a lot of work so I haven't had a lot of spare time. Also, I'm in the middle of end of year exams at the moment, so I've been doing quite a bit of revision. Mostly for Maths because, despite the fact that I'm Asian (Oh, the stereotypes.), I suck at Maths... That, and I got a bit side tracked while writing this chapter because... Well... I kind of fell victim to Tahnorra. I REGRET NOTHING! So yeah...**

**Next chapter will be going through a little Skoochy back story headcanon. Not much is known about him, canon-wise, so why not?**


	6. What a good book can do

**Hello again, reader.**

**Man, I beasted this chapter. After I posted chapter 5, I finished my final exam and then spent the next few days just sitting around chilling. Then I managed to write this up in a matter of a couple days. This chapter isn't as long as chapter 5, but that one was a monster of a write up.**

**So as I mentioned in the author note of chapter 5, this chapter will cover some Skoochy back story. In my honest opinion, the back story sounded a lot better in my head, and I feel it came out a little 'meh' in the end. But, aside from a couple aspects, I'm quite happy with how the Jinora focus of this chapter turned out.**

**As always, I hope you enjoy.**

* * *

Skoochy looked at the book that he held unsurely in his hand. How long had it been since he had tried his hand at reading a book?

Years, obviously. Probably three.

He flipped through the pages and frowned at what he saw. Aside from a few words here and there, the printed characters looked completely alien to him. Yep, he had forgotten how to read. Skoochy blew his bangs out of his face in annoyance, though the hair simply fell back where it was prior. He placed the book back on the shelf where he found it. He was looking for one particular book, a book that he had come across a few years ago.

Once upon a time, Skoochy was an infant left at the doorstep of an orphanage. He stayed at that orphanage for most of his young life. It was a time when he didn't know how to take care of himself, a time where he was dependant on others.

In the orphanage, he was raised by the caretakers. There he was taught many life skills, including how to read. But as he began to grow older, the caretakers began to neglect him, for he was seen as a waste of space and resources because no one would want to adopt a child so old. They sought to drive him away, and eventually when he was nine years old, he finally ran away.

Not knowing the ropes on how to survive on his own in the streets efficiently, he was often found scrounging through trash cans and dumpsters anywhere in Republic City looking for something that was in any way edible. One day, while he was searching through a dumpster, he found something interesting: a book. To be more precise, it was a novel. Or, at least what was left of it. The final portion of the book was missing. Curious as to what the book was about, he pocketed the book for later.

Curling up in a cosy corner in the dead end of an alleyway somewhere among the countless streets of Republic City, Skoochy began to read the book he found. It was a typical love story about a man who was in love with a woman who was in an arranged marriage with another, but it was unlike anything Skoochy had ever come across in his young life. Using his mediocre reading skills, he slowly but surely read through the book.

It did not take long for him to become completely entranced by it, and for the next few weeks, he had something to keep himself occupied with. Whenever he wasn't busy scavenging for food or money, he was found reading that book that he picked out of the trash. He was hooked, he was always anxious to read the next part where the man and the woman would be alone together, so he could immerse himself in the happy, joyous atmosphere that their love for each other and their happiness gave off. The story progressed, he followed their highs and lows, their happy moments together as well as their sad moments apart.

But suddenly the pages ran out. Skoochy was sitting on a low wall at the time that he reached the end. The shock of finding that there was no more to the book made him lose balance which caused him to fall off, leaving him with a limp for a week. He suddenly remembered that what he picked out of the trash was half a book. He swore inwardly at the thought that he'd never know how the story would end. The story was about to reach its climax too. The man and the woman had reached an all-time low in which the woman started to hate the man and the man was about to make the most important decision in his life about how he was going to approach the situation.

From then, he was often found re-reading the book. But he would always be shocked to find that the pages ended prematurely. Skoochy never did find out what happened next. Whenever he had some extra money on hand, he would go into a bookstore, looking for a copy of that book he found in the trash, but to no avail. His hunger would get the better of him and he would go instead to spend his money on food. Then he would have to spend his time getting more money again.

The trashcan book became his most prized possession. It gave him an escape from his miserable circumstances. His awful, hard and lonely life. But one day, a group of older kids had him cornered. They beat him up and took whatever they could find in his pockets, including the book. He had never felt such sadness in his life at that moment when he realised that they had taken his book.

He feared that without the book, he would eventually forget how to read. Constantly, he eyes darted from sign to sign among the streets so he could read them. Though once he learned that pickpocketing was one of the easiest ways to rustle up some cash and when he was able to pickpocket effectively, his eyes dropped down from the signs and to the pockets of unsuspecting tourists. And so, over the years that he spent eyeing pockets for picking, he forgot all the different characters that made up the written language of the world, and he could no longer read. Nowadays, whenever he would look at a piece of writing, he'd see nothing but a bunch of lines arranged in some kind of shape that looked entirely alien to him.

But despite that, he would always remember the story. Some nights when he can't sleep, he would recite what he could remember of the story in his head, sometimes he would try to guess what happened in the story next. The book that he had found in the trashcan that one fateful day had a massive influence on him. He decided that he didn't want to be adopted into a family. No, he wanted to find a girl and fall in love with her and start a family of his own. He wanted to experience the same happiness that the couple in the book experienced. But at such a young age, it was very difficult to find someone. And given his circumstances, he had more important things to do than find love.

Skoochy let out a sigh as he walked out of the bookstore and out onto the cold winded streets of downtown Republic City. He didn't know why he still bothered to look for that book since he no longer knew how to read. He stuffed his hands into his pockets as he started walking toward Central City Station to find a potential pocket to pick. The cold air caused him to shiver a bit. He once again made a mental note to find a jacket soon before he got sick from the cold. A strong gust of cold wind blew by which only made things worse for the young street urchin.

The gust of wind reminded him of a certain airbender, his friend Jinora. What if she was the girl he could potentially fall in love with in the future. Skoochy thought about it for a short moment as he walked.

_No,_ Skoochy concluded, _not her._

He didn't really look at her as a potential love interest. Maybe it's because they were both still so young. But really, he guessed he just had more important things to do than go around being all lovey-dovey. Gosh, the ridicule he'd get from his friends if he were to be like that with anyone really. He shrugged it off as he picked up the pace.

As he passed an alleyway between two apartment buildings, he took a look and saw a few clotheslines spanning the gap between the two buildings. He saw a jacket that seemed to be his size, but it was hard to tell from the far distance that it was away from him. He turned into the alleyway and made a careful inspection. He would be able to reach the jacket from a pipe that ran along the whole height of one of the buildings. But it was a fair way up. If he slipped, he would be seriously hurt. He wasn't confident enough that he could be able to use his earthbending to save himself from the fall.

Instead he decided he would find a jacket somewhere else. Heck, even save up money to buy a brand new one from a store if he really had to. He turned around out of the alley and once again made his way toward Central City Station and braved the cold. Winter definitely was approaching. He hadn't been keeping up with the date lately. Perhaps it was already officially winter. He didn't know, nor did he really care since the weather was already cold anyway.

Eventually he reached the area of Central City Station. He leaned against the fencing that surrounded the statue of Zuko. The air around the statue was warmer thanks to the flame producing from the statue. He looked up at the sky above him. After a while of looking for pockets to pick, he had no luck finding anything and instead decided to walk around.

Eventually he found himself at Yue Bay. He looked up toward the sky above him. It was starting to get dark. The first street lights were beginning to switch on as he looked out toward the lone island that housed his friend Jinora. He watched as Air Temple Island began to light up. It was a little odd though, for the island seemed to be lighting up a lot brighter than it normally would. Usually it was lit dimly, but tonight it was beginning to look like a large shining star.

Something must be happening over there. Probably some kind of festival or celebration he guessed. He sighed. The thought of that made him doubt that Jinora would be making an attempt to sneak out. He looked toward the brightly lit island for a little longer before he turned back around and headed back toward the inner city.

* * *

Skoochy was right to have his doubts.

It was Korra's eighteenth birthday and everyone was celebrating. Jinora had spent most of the afternoon helping to prepare the decorations and come nightfall, the guests arrived and the celebrations began. Jinora was expected to take part in the celebrations and was therefore unable to sneak off to do her own thing. That also meant another night away from the city.

Jinora puffed her cheeks at her growing boredom and restlessness. She unintentionally drew a few concerned looks from her parents when she started tapping her fingers on the table she was sitting at. She had never done that before.

Soon the celebrations turned into an ordinary get together when Korra suddenly disappeared, not that anyone was complaining. She was up to a lot of mischief all night, using the fact that it was her birthday as an excuse. Jinora looked around and realised that Mako was gone too. The thoughts that then entered her mind made her eyes widen slightly. Wanting to distract herself from such thoughts, she picked up her book, which she had long since lost concentration on, and excused herself so that she could find a quiet spot to read. It had taken a while, but she had finally become able to concentrate on reading books again, much to the relief of the other residence of Air Temple Island.

She ventured among the trees of the island, looking for a particular spot. A quiet spot where she is often found reading on warm, sunny days. The whole island was lit up by lantern light, so reading in that spot wouldn't be a problem tonight.

As Jinora neared her spot, she stopped in her tracks when she heard whispering. Switching to stealth mode, she quietly crept up to the source of the hushed voices. Peering around a tree trunk, she saw them. Korra and Mako. Korra had her arms around his neck and Mako had his arms around her waist. They held each other closely, whispering a few things before they shared a passionate kiss. Jinora let out a soft sigh at how romantic the sight looked. Two lovers kissing in lantern light under a near full moon. How she envied them.

But soon the envy faded as Jinora felt awkward watching them. Quietly, she made her way back to the direction from where she came. She felt it would be better if she just went back to her room where no one would be, and where she wouldn't be disturbed.

She let out a relieved sigh when she finally reached her room. Her quiet, undisturbed room. Jinora flopped down onto her bed and laid down on her side. Bringing the book up to her face, she began to read. It was a non-fiction book on the 600 day siege of Ba Sing Se. She already knew the story of the siege. What interested her about the book were the letters that were in the book. These were letters written by Fire Nation soldiers who besieged the city. When the siege was abandoned, the soldiers pulled out, but left behind their camps untouched. The Earth Kingdom soldiers searched these camps and many found letters that the Fire Nation soldiers had written, unable to send them home during the final days of the siege when everything became uncoordinated when General Iroh broke down after his son's death. There were letters to wives, lovers, mothers, brothers, friends and in one case, which brought tears to Jinora's eyes, a wounded soldier wrote an apologetic to his father, who he hated and hadn't spoken to in years, before dying of his wounds. It was heart breaking to know that the letter was never sent and his father would have thought that his son died hating him.

Jinora became immersed in the book. Sighing at the words of love, laughing at the playful banter and holding back tears at the words of lost hope and life. She looked like the ordinary calm and collected book loving Jinora that everyone knew and loved again.

But soon, Jinora felt the urge to rest her eyes after peering into the pages for so long. Setting the book aside, she strode over to her window and gazed at Republic City's lit up skyline. She could never get sick of the sight of the city at night. The way it lit up despite the darkness was simply awe inspiring.

She wondered what Skoochy was getting up to tonight. It had been a few weeks since she had last snuck out. She hoped that he wasn't getting attacked like he had a while ago. She leaned against the window sill and puffed her cheeks in boredom. She didn't want to be part of the partying because it was loud and bustling with people. She didn't like it when things got very loud and she felt uncomfortable around crowds. That was just something that came with being the bookworm that she was. But strangely, she didn't mind the loud, crowded streets of the capital city that she gazed at from her window.

Her mind wondered to the image of Mako and Korra in their embrace that seemed to now be burned into her retinas. But soon the mental image subsided as she began to imagine that instead of Mako and Korra, it was Skoochy and herself. She subconsciously touched her lips lightly with her fingertips as she imagined herself in such an embrace with the street urchin boy.

When she realised what she was thinking about, she almost yelped in shock and her fingers shot away from her lips. What was going on? She imagined herself kissing Skoochy! She felt her face heat up as she buried her face in her palms in self embarrassment. Lately, whenever she thought about Skoochy, her thoughts would always drift toward a more romantic aspect toward things and then her heart would sink at the thought that she wasn't with him at that very moment. And as if on cue, she felt a slight pain in her chest at the thought that she was stuck on Air Temple Island attending a party that she didn't want to be part of while Skoochy was out in the capital city.

She stumbled over to her bed and let herself fall onto the mattress. She really missed him, she missed the homeless boy that showed her around the city, the street urchin boy that she had befriended, she missed Skoochy, the seemingly handsome boy she had fallen for.

_Wait, _Jinora mind almost exploded at her previous thought, _what did I just…?_

She thought again and realised what she had just said in her mind. She had fallen for Skoochy.

_Oh, spirits!_

Her eyes shot open as she rapidly stood up from her bed at the sudden epiphany. Her heart began to race. She couldn't help but squirm on the spot that she stood as she fanned her heating up face with her hands.

"I'm in love with Skoochy!" she finally admitted out loud.

Instantly she covered her mouth with both her hands, refusing to comprehend what she had just said, and hoping no one had heard her sudden outburst. This was big. No, bigger than big. This was a turning point in her life. This was the first time she ever had feelings for a boy.

She fell back onto her bad and covered her face with her hands. She began to roll from side to side on her bed as she groaned out of restlessness. What was she going to do? She was still so young. She huffed as she sat up.

_And he couldn't possibly feel the same way about me._

Jinora felt her heart sink. Her chest began to ache as a lump began to form in her throat. She sniffled loudly as her eyes began to well up with tears. Who was she trying to kid? How would a relationship between them work anyway? Why would he want to find love when he has so many hardships to deal with?

She brought her knees to her chest and sniffled again as she buried her face in her knees. She always thought she'd be happy when she realised her feelings for someone. The fictitious worlds of her books had clearly misled her. She felt miserable thinking about the prospect of not having her feelings returned to her. She let out a sigh as she allowed herself to calm down a bit, a moment to recollect her thoughts.

After a while of sitting on her bed, Jinora decided that she wouldn't confess her feelings to Skoochy, she wouldn't act on her feelings. She enjoyed the time that she spent with that street urchin. She cherished the friendship between them. She didn't want to risk making everything between them by letting Skoochy know how she felt. She decided she would try to ignore her feelings for him, because that would be the only way she would be able to spend time with him without having to worry. The only way she would express her feelings for the homeless boy would be by doing small deeds for him, to let him know that she cared about him.

_But how would I do that?_

She couldn't think of anything at the moment. She was too caught up in her realisation of her feelings. She would think about it later. Right now, she wanted to get used to the thought of the fact that she had feelings for that street urchin boy by the name of Skoochy.

* * *

**What did you think of this chapter? Reviews are most welcome.**

**So yeah, I recently found out about Bolinora... I find the idea of it to be weird (No offence to those who ship Bolinora.). That's probably because I'm still imagining Jinora as the 10 year old that she is in the actual series when I try to picture it... Maybe if I imagined them to be older, I'd like it. But either way, I still prefer Jinoochy, obviously.**

**In other news, my mind decided to come up with another idea for a fanfic. As you're reading this, I might be writing a bit for that new idea now. That makes four ideas now. When I finish Partners in Crime, I'm not sure what I'd write next. I really want to write another fanfic because this fanfic thing is pretty good fun. So do I want to do an AtLA or LoK fic next? =/**

**But sticking on the topic of Partners in Crime, I'm stumped for ideas of what to do for chapter 7. I have the basic plan for chapter 8 and beyond somewhat organised, but I don't want to make the story go too quickly...**

**Responses to a few reviews:**

**Foreverabookcritic310020: Thank you so much for the positive review and the kind words. Your words have inspired me with a new found motivation. I am also put slightly at ease about slow updates now. :D**

**KnivesAndPens13: Thanks for your positive reviews, my faithful reader! :D Nooo... There will not be any Tahnorra in this story, as much as I like the idea of it (I'm a sucker for the idea of enemies falling in love. Yes, that means I'm a Zutarian as well. YOU GOTTA DEAL WITH IT! lul). Makorra is what's canon right now and the focus of this story is Jinoochy, so that's what I'm going to stick with.**

**Sachmis: YUSH! I AM WINNING YOU OVER! :DD Thank you for the kind words, though I don't know about the writing quality... After I posted chapter 5, I read through the fic and found errors in every single chapter from missing words to repeated words to words that were completely out of place and crap I forgot to backspace... It's safe to say, my forehead was red after I finished that very late proof read. Might do another proof read in case I missed anything... I probably did.**


	7. Jinora's delivery service

**Yes, as I have been saying for the past 15 minutes, the chapter is finally... Completed.**

**Anybody get the reference? No? Aw...D:**

**Hope the wait was worth it. Enjoy!**

* * *

Jinora felt a little ashamed of herself. She had snuck out to the city a few nights ago and it wasn't a very great experience. Her realised feelings for a certain homeless boy got in the way of her ability to enjoy spending time with him. She couldn't look Skoochy in the eye and she barely spoke for the whole night. She was sure the boy was annoyed at her in some way by the end of the night.

But she couldn't really blame herself, could she? She was always shy, and she had never been in a situation like this before in her short life. How else was she supposed to act?

But never mind that now. Jinora was hell bent on redeeming herself after that dismal excuse for a night out on the town. She thought of a way, at least what she thought was good way, to express her feelings toward him without the need to say those three words or make it obvious that she did have feelings for him.

She found herself in the kitchen whipping up sandwiches. Jinora had never done this before because her mother had always prepared her food for her. So she wasn't sure if what she was making was any good. But in the end, she ended up with six sandwiches, all filled with an assortment of vegetables.

_Skoochy likes vegetables, right?_

She hoped he did. Young people were notorious for hating vegetables after all.

Jinora looked at the six sandwiches that lay before her on the kitchen counter she had been working at. That would be enough to get him through a few meals. Now all she needed to do was bring the sandwiches to him. She stepped away from the counter to find something to wrap the sandwiches in.

Opening a cupboard, she couldn't help but imagine Skoochy's thankful expression when she would give him the sandwiches. The thought of being able to help him left her all giddy. She closed her eyes to imagine a scene in which Skoochy would thank her by giving her a warm hug. Jinora could barely suppress the smile that spread across her face. Feeling her face redden, she quickly deterred her thoughts elsewhere lest someone were to see her in such a state. To keep her mind distracted, she continued looking through the cupboard and found a cloth wrap. Satisfied by the size, she made her way to the bench where she laid out the sandwiches.

Jinora dropped the cloth wrap in shock at finding Korra eating away at her hard work. Korra was in the middle of a mouthful of sandwich when she saw Jinora's angry expression, causing her to stop chewing and look curiously at the young airbender. Jinora was not happy to find Korra eating the food she had prepared for Skoochy. Not happy one bit.

Korra began to feel awkward, and somewhat frightened, having the little girl staring at her in such a menacing way. When she noticed Jinora's gaze shift between her and the sandwich in her hand, she got the gist as to why the young airbender was staring at her.

"Oh, hey Jinora," Korra paused to swallow the food in her mouth, "Was that your sandwich?"

"Yes," Jinora said bluntly, a less-than-amused expression on her face.

Korra looked down at the bench and saw five more sandwiches neatly laid out.

"And those too?" Korra asked curiously.

"Yeah," Jinora said, "those too."

Korra began to point at each one individually before pointing at the one she held in her hand, counting them. She then looked out the window to find the sky was dark before looking back down to the young girl in front of her.

"All six of these?" Korra inquired, "This late at night after dinner?"

"Um," Jinora said, her expression changing to one of uncertainty, "yes."

Korra eyed the airbender curiously, "Nobody eats that much in a single night this late. Not even me. Maybe Bolin might, but you're no Bolin."

Jinora thought desperately for something to say, but she was fresh out of lies, having never thought she'd need to. After a moment of her silence, Korra continued to talk.

"I know," Korra snapped her fingers, "you're sneaking out to a secret night time picnic!"

Jinora grimaced inwardly. Korra got the sneaking out part right.

"Korra," Jinora said, wanting to change the subject, "What are you doing here in the kitchen anyway?"

"Jinora, Jinora," Korra said, "I'm from the Southern Water Tribe. Do you really think a small Air Nomad vegetarian dinner is going to keep me satisfied?"

Jinora didn't bother to respond, knowing the question was rhetorical.

"Of course not!" Korra continued, not even bothering to wait for a response anyway, "Why do you think I try to get off of Air Temple Island whenever I can find the opportunity?"

Jinora understood the feeling, but for different reasons.

"Let me tell you," Korra held up a finger, "Not just to get out on the town. Sometimes my stomach is pretty much crying for some Water Tribe style cuisine. So why am I here? I'm still pretty hungry from dinner."

Jinora nodded in understanding as she picked the cloth wrap off the floor and made to wrap the five remaining sandwiches with the cloth wrap before the avatar could get to them.

"Well," Korra said, "have fun with your secret night time picnic."

Korra gave a small wave before taking another bite out of the sandwich as she walked out of the kitchen. Jinora watched as Korra left the room before proceeding to stack the sandwiches in a tower before wrapping them up.

Satisfied at the knot that secured the sandwiches inside, she made her way back to her room, food in hand. She placed the wrapped sandwiches on her dresser table as she close the door behind her before reaching under her bed to get the clothing a certain street urchin boy had stolen for her.

That was the night she had met him. She remembered how he had held her hand for most of the night that night until she realised and snatched her hand away. She puffed her cheeks in annoyance at herself because right now she wished she could hold his hand at that given moment.

Jinora quickly slipped into the long jacket before putting on her gloves, scarf and beret. They fitted warmly against the cold winter air which brought a small smile to her face. She placed the food she prepared into her brown satchel bag before she shouldered the bag. After a quick check out her room door to see if anyone was coming, she spun on her heels and grabbed her glider from its spot next to its window.

She climbed onto the window sill before extending the wings of her glider with a loud click. Taking one last look into her room, she turned her gaze toward the city. A large smile spread across her face knowing she was headed for the city, headed to see Skoochy. With that, she leapt from her window sill and took flight toward the city.

* * *

They all sat around on the ground next to Zuko's statue contemplating on what to do. Skoochy blew his bangs out of his face as he looked up at the dark sky above them. Xing laid flat on his back while little Mei Li sat next to him with chin resting on her knees. They were joined by three other young boys, friends of theirs. Still, Skoochy was the oldest of the bunch at the age of 13. The oldest of the rest was only 10. Skoochy began to wonder why they had to be so unfortunate at such a young age. But a moment later, he disregarded the thought as he let out a bored groan.

"Man," Skoochy complained as he fell flat on his back, "there's nothing to do right now."

Little Mei Li giggled before she responded, "Maybe if your airbender girlfriend was here you wouldn't be so bored."

Skoochy sat up and glared at her as the other children began to laugh at him. He didn't bother to respond to the remark, knowing they wouldn't listen to him anyway. With the roll of his eyes, he stood up to stretch.

"We don't hear you saying she's not, Skooch'," said the young bag snatcher lying on the ground.

"You wouldn't listen to me anyway," Skoochy said as tugged his vest tighter around his torso, "But seriously, I know you're all bored, but don't take it out on me."

The children only giggled and Skoochy simply rolled his eyes again. They could be so annoying sometimes. But despite that, Skoochy still sat himself back down on the ground with the other children. They were his friends after all, like his little brothers and sister. He wasn't going to hold a grudge against them for something that petty.

They continued to sit there in silence. They had spent the last couple of hours sitting there and so they had run out of things to talk about. That, and there was simply nothing that seemed worth doing at the moment. Though more to the point, they couldn't be bothered with anything. It was just one of those nights.

Mei Li was kind of right, as much as Skoochy hated to admit it. If Jinora were there with them, it wouldn't be so boring right now. He looked over to his friends and watched as Xing picked at his fingernails while Mei Li watched silently as the three other boys seemed to be punching each other playfully. Skoochy was left on his own in this little group.

He found himself looking around, hopeful that there was a chance that he would spot the young airbender girl looking for him. But to his dismay, he did not find anyone of the sort. Out of bored frustration, he let out a loud huff as he laid flat on his back on the cool ground beneath him. Skoochy found himself staring off into the blank nothingness of the night sky, letting his mind wonder off somewhere else for a while. But eventually he was brought back to reality when one of his friends spoke.

"Hey," the eldest boy said, "isn't that the airbender girl that Skoochy always hangs out with?"

Skoochy's eyes snapped open wide shortly before he shot up into an upright position to scan the area around him, a hopeful expression on his face. Failing to find her anywhere, he stole a glance toward his friends only to find that they were practically going hysterical with laughter. After a short moment, it registered to Skoochy as to why they were laughing. They sought to trick him to see his reaction, and they did in fact get the reaction he was expecting.

"Oh shut up guys," Skoochy glared, "Especially you, Chan!"

"It was Xing's idea!" Chan, the boy who pulled the prank, informed after settling down a bit.

Skoochy's eyes narrowed as an annoyed pout formed on his lips. His eyes turned to the young bag snatcher who was still lying on the ground, laughing. Skoochy slammed a fist into the ground, sending a chunk of the ground underneath Xing to rise up and boot him in the backside.

"Ouch!" Xing cried out as his shot up from the ground and rubbed his sore behind, "Aw, come on, Skooch', we're just having some fun."

Skoochy merely rolled his eyes. He didn't really like getting teased after all. It was starting to put him into a bit of a bad mood. The other children snickered at Xing's dismay, who scowled back at them.

Suddenly, Mei Li straightened her back as she looked past Skoochy.

"Wait, isn't that the airbender girl?" Mei Li said.

"Cut it out Mei Li," Skoochy gave her an irritated glare.

"No, really Skoochy," the little girl raised her voice a little, "I think that's her!"

"Can it," Skoochy crossed his arms, "I'm not falling for the same trick twice."

"What won't you fall for twice?" said a young girl's voice behind him.

A very familiar voice.

Skoochy's eyes widened in surprised as he spun himself around on his spot on the ground. He looked up and was greeted by the face of a slightly puzzled Jinora. Skoochy quickly stood up from the ground to greet her.

"Oh um, nothing," Skoochy said as he scratched at the back of his head nervously, shifting his hat back and forth as he did so, "and, uh, hi Jinora."

"Hi Skoochy!" Jinora greeted back in an excited tone.

The young airbender bit lightly on her lower lip as she had a sudden impulse to give the boy in front of her a hug.

So she did.

Jinora leaned forward and gave the street urchin a quick hug. She really couldn't help herself, nor did she have any regrets. As quickly as she leaned in, she pulled back with a slight red tint evident on her cheeks. The sudden, and quick, embrace caught Skoochy did not fail to surprise him, for the councilman's daughter had never done that before. Heck, he never expected that from her at all at any point in the future.

He stole a quick glance behind him and saw his friends whispering to each other while snickering. He could already tell what the whispers were about.

_That didn't really help, Jinora…_

Turning back to the girl in front of him, he watched as Jinora clumsily held her glider to her body with her arm as she used her now free hand to extract something from her bag. She held something wrapped in cloth and he could see a somewhat proud expression on her face.

"What's that?" Skoochy inquired.

"Oh um…" Jinora shifted on her feet a little, "I made a little something for you. I thought you might like it so…"

Jinora stopped there, not knowing what to say next. Thankfully for her, Skoochy didn't really need to know anything more. He accepted the cloth parcel when Jinora handed it to him. He undid the knot at took a look to see what it was Jinora had made for him.

"Bread, huh?" Skoochy said.

"Sandwiches," Jinora corrected, "five to be exact."

"Sandwiches," Skoochy repeated, still eyeing the food he held in his hand.

The tone in which Skoochy said that sounded a little unappreciative to Jinora. The thought he didn't appreciate her work pained her a little. Skoochy's thoughts, however, were somewhere else entirely.

_Sandwiches. Five of them. I have five friends who won't stop bugging me. This works out well._

"Hey Jinora," Skoochy looked up at the airbender, "wait here for a moment."

The young girl gave Skoochy a questioning look, but he didn't see it for he had already spun around on his heels toward the group of children who were behind him.

"Okay guys, here's the deal. My _friend_," Skoochy paused for a moment after putting massive emphasis on the word 'friend', "made some sandwiches, five of them. You can have them, so that's one each. Now stop bugging me about Jinora, alright?"

They all nodded and muttered their agreement on the conditions as they all grabbed a sandwich eagerly, leaving Skoochy holding an empty cloth wrap. After double checking the children would be off his back, at least for the next couple weeks, he turned back around to Jinora.

"C'mon," Skoochy said as he walked past her, ushering her to follow him, "Let's go somewhere else."

"O-okay," Jinora mumbled as she turned around to follow him.

They walked for a while in silence. Skoochy was glad to be away from the teasing of his friends. Jinora felt a little disappointed, however, having not received the thanks that she had been expecting from Skoochy. The walk soon came to a stop when Skoochy seated himself on a roadside bench, to which Jinora joined him.

It was a few silent moments before Skoochy caught the downed expression of Jinora's face. It wasn't a very obvious expression, but it was still there and it was not nice to see. This troubled Skoochy a little. Usually she would be at least a bit cheerful, if a bit awkward at times.

"What's up?" Skoochy asked with a hint of concern in his voice.

"Hm?" Jinora looked at the boy beside her, "Nothing."

Her tone didn't convince him, his expression told her that. Jinora looked down at the ground in front of her, avoiding eye contact with the street urchin.

_No! I'm doing it again!_

Jinora closed her eyes with a frown as she resisted the urge to squeal in frustration at herself. This was exactly how she acted last time she had snuck out to the city, only this time for slightly different reasons this time. But she was still doing it.

Suddenly, a hand touched her shoulder and she nearly jumped out of her skin in fright. She turned her gaze to her side and saw it was Skoochy with his hand on her shoulder, a look of worry on his face.

"Is this about the food you brought me?" he asked, "Which I gave to my friends?"

Deciding to be truthful about the situation, Jinora nodded in confirmation. Skoochy gave her a blank look for a short moment before he started to shake as he chuckled.

"Jinora," Skoochy began as he settled down, "it's not that I didn't appreciate it. I just don't like being given things for free, like a charity case. I thought I told you that a while ago."

"Oh," Jinora said softly, looking down at the ground, "oh yeah…"

"Besides," he continued, "my friends hadn't eaten a thing all day. So in a way, you helped them."

"That's good, I guess," Jinora said, slightly reassured.

A moment of silence passed by comfortably, but it didn't last long.

"Geez," Skoochy leaned back on the bench, his elbows resting on top of the back rest, "You're such an air head."

Jinora perked up and eyed the street urchin as menacingly as she could because of what he called her. But all she could muster was a frown and an awkward pout. Skoochy in turn merely smirked at the young air bender. Jinora stood up from the bench, maintaining her facial expression while she placed her hands on her hips much like her mother would do when she was unhappy with someone or something.

"Well you're…" Jinora tried to think of a comeback, "You're a…"

Skoochy raised an eyebrow.

"You're a..." Jinora struggled, her stern facial expression beginning to fail her, "A um…"

Skoochy was now suppressing the urge to laugh at the young girl's feeble attempt to insult him. Jinora cursed inwardly. Why couldn't she think of anything? Surely she could have remembered some sort of insult from one of the many, many fiction books she had read over the course of her life. But for the life of her, she couldn't.

"You…" Jinora was now pointing at him with one hand, "You are a…"

The homeless boy on the bench was now visibly shaking as he struggled to hold back the laughter that was building up from within. Jinora, unsurprisingly, stopped trying. She gave up. Having never really had the need for petty name calling while being raised on Air Temple Island, she just could not think of anything to call him back with.

"Oh forget it," Jinora said as she spun around on her heels and crossed her arms.

Skoochy lost it. He slapped his knee as he cracked up laughing. Hearing his laughter behind her, Jinora's facial expression formed into an extremely irritated frown with one of her eyebrows twitching slightly.

Having settled down, Skoochy stood up and placed a hand on Jinora's shoulder, "Try 'lousy street urchin'."

Jinora gave him a questioning look. Why was he telling her how to insult him? Confused, Jinora turned to question him but was met by a look of encouragement from the boy. The next thing she realised was how close he was standing to her, how close his face was to hers now that she had turned around. Jinora felt the heat rise in her face. To try and suppress the colour change in her face, she decided to give it a go.

"You're a lousy street urchin," Jinora said.

Skoochy looked at her blanky before chuckling as he spoke, "Gee, it's not like I've never been called that before, you silly air head."

Jinora gasped at his final remark. She was about to have a shout at him, but he ran off laughing. He turned his head to look at her as he ran, as though ushering her to chase after him. Jinora caught that and clutched onto her glider tightly in annoyance. After a moment, she quickly put one foot in front of the other in rapid succession as she chased after the laughing boy.

She chased him through much of the busy city streets throughout much of the night while she still failed to think of a name to call him.

* * *

**And that was chapter 7. What did you think of this new chapter to the tale? Reviews are most welcome.**

**That was a slow update... I'm sorry. D: I had a major block at with this chapter at first, but after a while, because of the fact my school year is over, I got completely sidetracked with other things. When I did try to write this, nothing happened, and then I'd get side tracked again. That's basically why it took so long... BUT FINALLY! I got it done.**

**As always, I hope you enjoyed this.**

**Response to a couple reviews:**

**egarcia413: Just wait and see. :3**

**welcometoBangkok: Thank you for the feedback. :D Yue and Sokka seriously did not come to mind when I was writing that. I never really planned to make that connection between the two. The back story was mainly to establish the fact that Skoochy is a kid that is interested in love. Kind of based off a personal experience of mine, though it was a story on the internet and it was actually completed...**

**yunadance6: So am I. :)**


	8. Bending prowess

**Where have I been all this time? Somewhere being lazy and unmotivated...**

* * *

_Step, turn, step, step, turn, step, spin, step, spin, step, turn…_

It had been a while since Jinora had properly practiced her airbending, but now she was and to her it felt great to properly be at one with her element. She was going through the spinning gate exercise. She had long since mastered the gates, the stepping, the turning and the spinning. She knew what to look for in the gates and how to react to the various angles of which the gates were in relation to her. After many of her childhood years of drilling it over and over, it had become second nature to her. She really had learned how to adapt to change. She was considered to be somewhat of a prodigy with her bending. Tenzin was sure that his eldest daughter would be ready to receive her arrows by the time she turns 14, perhaps 13 even.

Jinora leapt out the other side of the gates with an elegant spring in her step before landing gracefully, exhaling as she relaxed her body. She looked toward her father who gave her an approving nod and a smile while Korra, who was standing beside him, gave out a small, but energetic, 'woo' of a cheer for her.

"Now it is your turn, Korra," Tenzin said bluntly.

Korra groaned as she stepped up before she began the same exercise. Jinora took up a position beside her father as she watched the avatar go through the same drill as she had. As far as Jinora was concerned, Korra was doing exceptionally well. She was getting the hang of it at a faster rate than she herself had. Korra really was a natural.

The training session continued for the next couple of hours. From going through various forms, back to hopping back through the spinning gates, to meditation and then to actual manipulation of the air around them but not finishing without facing the spinning gates one last time. By the end, Tenzin concluded that both avatar and eldest daughter had performed flawlessly and were indeed on their way to becoming great masters.

With today's training over, Jinora decided to go to her room and curl up on her bed with a book. But not without cooling herself off with a nice glass of lychee juice first. When she entered the kitchen, she found that Korra had a similar idea in mind and was already one step ahead of her. Jinora grabbed a cup out of a cupboard as she watched the avatar pour herself a glass of the sweet tasting juice.

"You want some too?" Korra asked when she looked up and noticed Jinora watching her with a cup in hand.

When the young girl nodded, Korra reached over with the glass bottle of juice to pour some for her. Jinora looked up at the Water Tribe native as she took a drink from her cup and noticed the sly grin on her face. She gave Korra a questioning look, somewhat afraid of what Korra would say to her.

"So how was your secret picnic?" Korra asked in a casual tone before taking a sip of her drink.

Jinora practically spat the contents of her mouth back into her cup. She then grimaced, knowing that her drink now had a foul mix of saliva in it, before looking up at Korra. Korra seemed amused at the young girl's reaction and pushed the subject further.

"So?" Korra questioned.

"There was no picnic," Jinora said bluntly before she had a go at drinking again, hoping Korra wouldn't say something that would cause her to spit her drink back out again.

Korra simply chuckled at the airbender as though to say 'I'm not convinced'. Before Korra could try to push the subject even further, Jinora quickly downed her drink and ran off. Jinora's desperation to avoid the situation only heightened Korra's suspicion that Jinora has been up to something. Quickly, however, her mind went somewhere else entirely when Mako entered the room to ask how her training was and other miscellaneous things.

* * *

One downside about living in such a modern city was the light pollution at night. It became difficult to see the many stars that spread across the night sky like a vast, white spotted black canvas. She had remembered seeing the stars at night when she had ventured down to the Southern Water Tribe on numerous occasions to visit her grandmother. The amount of stars she could see new was miniscule compared to what could be seen at the South Pole. It was rather disappointing. But that disappointed feeling quickly disappeared at the sight of a certain homeless boy approaching Central City Station with a slightly bored expression on his face.

She had snuck out again with minimal difficulties and had been sitting on the ground by the Zuko's statue for quite some time. So long, in fact, that she had resolved to star gazing out of boredom as she waited for the possible appearance of Skoochy. The waiting had finally paid off, however, for he had finally shown up on a whim after almost an hour after Jinora snuck out.

Skoochy did not seem to notice that the airbender girl was sitting by the statue, watching him from a distance. His attention was turned toward the busy road beside him as he watched as the innumerable Satomobiles clogged the road way. He was pondering the necessity for such a loud, complicated and not to mention expensive contraption. But then again, he was never in a rush to get anywhere, so walking would always suffice for him.

Jinora brought her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them and rested her chin on her limbs as she watched the homeless boy stare seemingly off into space. She watched him stroll as she waited to see how long it would take him to take notice of the fact that she was there.

It wasn't until Skoochy noticed that his surroundings had gained an orange tint that it registered to him that he had arrived at his destination. It didn't take long after a quick scan of the area to find that the young airbender was already waiting for him. She was looking at him as though he were the only one there. Suffice to say, she was glad that he had finally shown up and the girl couldn't help but smile.

"Hey there, air head," Skoochy greeted as he approached the girl, hands in pockets and bored faced.

Jinora pouted in response, affected by the name she was called and unable to think of a retort that would have an amusing effect on him. After a couple second of mulling it over, she gave up trying to think and instead stood up to greet to homeless boy.

"Hello," Jinora greeted back in a satirically bitter tone.

Skoochy snickered as she returned his greeting, clearly amused that the name 'air head' was still having an effect on Jinora. After a quick exchange of words, they found themselves walking. To nowhere in particular it seemed, but for Jinora it felt much better than sitting on solid ground for an hour straight.

They soon found themselves amongst the Dragon Flats borough. Jinora never seemed to be able to get over the fact of how quiet and desolate the borough seemed in comparison to the rest of Republic City. In a way, it reminded her of life back at Air Temple Island, but it was still a nice contrast.

Skoochy led their little duo on a journey that snaked between the various houses and apartment buildings throughout the borough. When asked by a curious Jinora as to where they were going, Skoochy simply shrugged and said he was going by instinct. This caused Jinora to hold back a small laugh as she recalled a story her grandmother Katara had told her, some time ago, about one experience of hers during the Hundred Year War. Sokka's instincts led them straight into a Fire Army camp when he decided that Appa was too noticeable in the sky and that they should walk.

Recollection aside, Jinora decided to go with it. It wasn't like there was going to be an enemy army camp for them to stumble into after all. After some time, Skoochy halted his movements and seemed to scan the area.

"What's going on, Skoochy?" Jinora asked out of curiosity.

Skoochy shushed her as he began to move forward again. Jinora suddenly began to feel concerned. Maybe they were on the verge of stumbling into something potentially hostile? Maybe not an army camp, but something that would be still harmful or bad for them?

Skoochy rounded a corner and halted again. He cupped his ears, listening out for something. Again, Jinora's concern grew. He took a few steps forward before jumping to grab the top of a wooden fence beside him and pulled himself up to peer over.

"Skoochy," Jinora said in a slightly frightened voice, "what's going on? Are we in danger or something?"

The street urchin propped himself back down on solid ground. He gave Jinora a blank look for a moment before biting back a laugh. It became clear at that moment to Jinora that she had just been paranoid.

"No, you silly air head," Skoochy teased through his giggles, "Someone's got their radio playing. Sounded like a Pro-bending match is on and I want to have a listen. It's just over this fence here."

Jinora was about to retort his airhead comment when he shushed her once again, his ears peeled. Jinora decided instead to listen out for the radio as well, she could hear it but she struggled to hear anything coherent. It seemed Skoochy wasn't able to hear it all that clearly either, for he had a slightly frustrated expression on his face. After a few moments, Skoochy once again propped himself up on the fence and peeped over.

"Okay," Skoochy said as he dropped himself off the fence, "here's the situation. We're beside this house's backyard and the radio is positioned on the far side of the veranda with an old man asleep on a chair next to it."

"Okay…?" Jinora nodded unsurely. To her, it sounded as though he was conducting a military operation.

"So what we're going to do to get close to it is to jump this fence and climb on top of the veranda and sneak on over to the far side. There's a pipe on the side of the wall near us that we can use to climb onto the roof which will lead to the veranda. Got it?"

Jinora nodded before rolling her eyes when he wasn't looking. It really did sound like he was putting together a little operation. Still, it was nice to see Skoochy get serious about something for a change.

After a few moments, Skoochy jumped to grab the top of the fence before hauling himself over. His landing on the other side was more like a flop onto the ground than something more preferred, like a proper landing, but he was not deterred. He picked himself up and snuck over along the side of the house to where the vertical pipe was. Having done this climbing manoeuvrer many times in the big city, he was up onto the roof in no time. He peered back down to see how Jinora was doing. He was surprised to see that she was nowhere to be found.

He looked left and right and down at the ground below him. No Jinora.

_Where'd that air head go?_

It was no surprise then, that when Skoochy looked up, that he was surprised to find a certain airbender flying through the air straight at him. He hit the deck so quickly that he had to clutch his hat to his head as she soared over him and landed gracefully on the roof of the house. The street urchin got up to find Jinora clicking the wings of her glider shut.

He forgot that she always carried around the damn thing.

Putting aside that thought, he quietly made his way over off the roof and over the far end of the veranda while he ushered Jinora to follow him. He reached his destination and found he could hear the radio clearly. Mission accomplished.

He laid himself down into a prone position on his stomach on top of the veranda with his arms folded under his chin. Jinora lowered herself into a similar position next to him.

_"…and it's a knock out! Where there you have it folks, the Ember Island Eel-hounds have won by a stunning round two knockout against the Laogai Lion-vultures. Coming up after a word from our sponsors: the new team versus the veterans. The Golden Temple Tigerdillos versus the Qiu Hua Rat-vipers in their debut match! Stay tuned…"_

"Damn," Skoochy swore quietly, "We missed one of the matches."

A strong gust of wind blew by before Jinora could make a response. She looked toward Skoochy to find him shivering briefly as a chill was sent down his spine as a result.

"Hey Jinora," Skoochy said after his chill induced spasms ceased, "take off your coat."

"W-why?" Jinora asked, surprised by the boy's proposal.

"Just do it." Skoochy simply relied.

Jinora inwardly shrugged as she sat herself up and took it off before nestling back into her prone position that was surprisingly comfortable. Skoochy took the coat from Jinora before he too nestled back in into a prone position next to her before covering the both of them with Jinora's coat.

The airbender felt the heat rise in her face. She found herself positioned quite close to the street urchin under their new makeshift blanket that was her stolen, oversized trench coat. She was literally rubbing shoulder to shoulder with him. She looked toward him to find he was simply looking at the ground below them, unaffected by their close proximity.

_Trust me to think that way,_ Jinora thought with a pout.

It was then that Skoochy perked up as the radio began to sound a little livelier.

_"And we're back folks. Shiro Shinobi here once again to give you the usual rundown of the match. And now, we have an interesting matchup for you all ladies and gentlemen. A new rookie team has entered our midst for their day of reckoning. On the blue side, from the eastern United Republic of Nations city, Qiu Hua, we bring you the Rat-vipers! On the red side, we have the veterans. The one, the only, the Golden Temple Tigerdillos! The crowd is cheering as the two teams make their way to the arena. I don't know about you, folks, but I'm hoping to see a new Fire Ferrets happen here with the Rat-vipers._

_ "But hopes aside, the teams are in position. The ref has given the go ahead, the bell's rung and they're off. The Rat-vipers show promise as they waste no time taking the initiative. A surprisingly fast one-two combo from the Rat-viper's earthbender sends their opponent's waterbender, Han, into zone 2. Looks like the Tigerdillo's firebender is in trouble being blasted again and again by streams of liquid. But Hung is not without support. His earthbending teammate, Komaru, is fighting water with earth. Hung has an opportunity to retaliate and he takes it. The Rat-viper's waterbender is ducking and weaving hot, hot fire. The poor Rat-viper is getting ganged up as now Han, in zone 2, sneakily trips him with a stinging coil of water. He's on the ground, can he get up? No! An earth disk to the chest sends him to the drink!_

_ "It seems the Rat-vipers are demoralised by their loss as a barrage from the veterans sends the survivors into zone 2. They get the green light and the Tigerdillos begin to advance into Rat-viper territory. The Rat-vipers are having it tough with a man down. Despite their good start, these young ones certainly aren't up to the level of their seasoned oppone- What-ho! The Rat-viper earthbender tumbles like a chunk of earth into the drink after a water-earth combo slams him mercilessly. Their last remaining player is on the razors edge. He's pushed to zone three. The Tigerdillos are hot on his heels as they push up once again._

_ And saved by the bell! Round one goes to the Golden Temple Tigerdillos. It seems tonight we will not get another get another case of the Fire Ferrets this season, folks…"_

Skoochy gave a silent cheer for the Tigerdillos as Jinora gave the boy a strange look. She had never gotten excited about Pro-bending, despite Korra's heated descriptions of recent matches whenever the avatar is reading the newspaper. As such, she wasn't sure what Skoochy was getting excited for. Then again, her father had always been against the sport and his ideal must have rubbed off on her. Perhaps if she actually watched a match she would get a much better impression.

For now, she would just soak up Skoochy's close company while the situation permitted it.

* * *

The match between the Golden Temple Tigerdillos and the debut rookie Qiu Hua Rat-vipers continued in a similar fashion to the first round, only this time it played out faster. In the end, the increased pace meant there was no bell to save the Rat-vipers, and the Tigerdillos were victorious by a knockout. Skoochy abruptly pumped a fist into the air as the match concluded, startling Jinora. There was only one other match that followed after the beat down between the Tigerdillos and the Rat-vipers. Straight after that, they made their way down off of the building and back into the streets and alleyways of the borough. With Jinora wearing her oversized coat once again.

They soon found themselves at a clearing, what looked like the site of a recently demolished building. Skoochy ran out to the centre of it and surveyed his surroundings. With a satisfied nod to no one in particular, he asked Jinora a question.

"Hey airhead," he said, "How good a bender are you?"

"Uh… Why?" Jinora asked, but judging from his smirk and what they had been doing earlier, she could guess what he was getting at.

"Well," he began, "I was thinking, maybe we could have a little one on one Pro-bending match."

_Thought so,_ Jinora mused mentally.

Skoochy's enthusiasm for the sport had left Jinora somewhat curious about the sport. She thought that maybe getting into the sport would be a way for her to connect with the boy. And so…

"Alright then," she accepted his challenge.

From what she gathered from Korra's incessant talks and from the matches she heard on the radio, the aim of Pro-bending was to push their opponent back until they fell off the arena using nothing but bending. But not over the side, as Korra made a special point of one time when she was explaining the rules to her, although Jinora hadn't been listening all that intently to the avatar. Jinora silently curse herself for that. Knowledge of the sport would have been very useful for her right now.

However, Jinora thanked her lucky stripes that she had perked up and listened at the mention of the firebending aspect of the sport. Firebending had three distinct rules: One, no fire blasts can last for more than a second, meaning no constant streams. Two, no direct strikes to the head. Three, because firebenders created their own fire, there were no rules concerning where they got their fire from, unlike waterbenders and earthbenders.

Since, unsurprisingly, there were no rules concerning airbending in Pro-bending, Jinora felt that she would go along with the firebending rules for herself as best she could, seeing as she didn't have to be concerned about her source of her respective element.

And with that, Jinora slipped into a stance, ready to blast some serious rear end with her airbending. Skoochy chuckled heartily at Jinora's acceptance of his challenge and he too slipped into a stance. His stance, however, made Jinora cringe. He had his fists up in front of his face while his legs were moderately straight as he hopped on his toes, being light of his feet. It just seemed so wrong to the airbender. The traditional concept behind earthbending was to be rooted to the ground with wide, stable stances. If someone were to give Skoochy a rough shove at that given moment, he'd surely be bowled over. She was beginning to understand why her father was not overly excited about the sport.

_No,_ she thought to herself, not wanting to be discouraged just yet, _it's changing times. Changing times, Jinora. Think about firebenders who can generate lightning. It used to be a trait amongst only the most powerful of firebenders but now nearly anyone can do it. It's firebenders who generate lightning who power the power stations. This is just a modern style of earthbending._

They stood in their stances, staring each other down intently, for quite some time.

"Um," Jinora started after ironically being the first to lose her patience, "when do we start?"

"Uh…" Skoochy said as he slipped out of his stance, thinking, "I guess on the count of three?"

Jinora nodded in agreement, still in her airbending stance. Skoochy readied himself before starting.

"One, two, three!"

Skoochy took the initiative, bringing up two small chunks of ground with the stamp of his foot and sending them flying toward Jinora with two separate punches from both fists. Jinora reacted accordingly, stepping and spinning out of the way of the two projectiles, while at the same time still remaining close to her starting position. Skoochy continued to send chunks of ground her way and Jinora continued to evade.

_Step, spin, step, turn, step, step, turn, spin,_ she recited in her head as she dodged.

Her years of drilling through the spinning gates were paying off. She was able to evade every single one of Skoochy's projectiles. After a short while, he began to tire from his onslaught whereas Jinora had yet to even manipulate her element. Noticing Skoochy's faltering attacks, Jinora smirked inwardly as she decided to turn the tides in their little match.

Jinora took a series of steps forward as she rotated her body. As she finished her rotation, she swung her arms in a long, wide, horizontal sweeping motion. This motion sent a short, but concentrated and powerful, gust of wind straight into Skoochy's upper body. The street urchin was sent flying. He was knocked off his feet and was thrown back a considerable distance.

He hit the ground on his back with thud and a loud 'hurk' from his mouth, evidence that the impact winded him. His strained expression as he sat himself back up brought an expression of concern to Jinora's. With a gasp, she quickly rushed over to him as she cursed herself for going so overboard.

"Oh spirits, Skoochy, I'm so sorry!" she cried out as she held back a tear of guilt that threatened to expose itself.

Jinora sat herself down beside him. The landing looked like it had hurt, and so she was concerned that maybe she had caused some damage to his body. As an airbender, she was a pacifist by nature. This was the most harm she had inflicted on anyone in her life since the Equalist raid on Air Temple Island during the Anti-Bending Revolution. Even then, she felt some remorse afterward. Now for her to do such a thing to her friend and, better yet, the boy she liked, made her feel more and more guilty.

Skoochy took a moment to catch his breath and regain his bearings. He just got his butt kicked. Not only that, but by a girl who was younger and smaller than him. He pouted and avoided eye contact with the worried girl beside him as he acknowledged his defeat. He decided that he was never going to tell anyone about this. His friends would never let him live it down after all.

Once he felt that he had recovered, he turned to face Jinora.

"Heh, that was pretty good, air head," Skoochy said with a cheeky grin, "Just remind me not to pick a fight with you."

Jinora frowned when he called her an air head once again. All her feelings of guilt and remorse for sending him hurtling through the air quickly disappeared. And in response, she threw a strong blast of wind straight into his face which sent his hat flying off into oblivion. He certainly knew how to avoid picking a fight. Not.

But she had to admit, knocking Skoochy onto his behind was kind of fun.

* * *

**About time I got this one out, huh? Laziness on my part with nothing in the way of an excuse for it.**

**If this chapter seemed a bit rushed to you, that's understandable. I hastily put together the latter five sixths of this chapter together under the sudden realisation of just how much time had passed since my last update.**

**On another note, I realised I made an error in the first chapter. I wrote '...while the sun slowly disappeared behind the mountain range beyond the capital city'. When you think about that hard enough, you'll find I wrote that the sun was setting in the east rather than the west. I'll have to edit that.**


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